MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – At least 30 people, including MPs and other well-known politicians, were killed in two explosions in the central Somalia town of Baladweyne on Wednesday, a local police official said on Thursday.
Commander of Hirshabelle police for Hiran region Isaq Ali Abdulle told a press conference that death toll from the attacks has risen to 30, with more than 40 others injured and he urged the federal government to help airlift people sustaining severe injuries to hospitals in the capital Mogadishu.
The first blast carried out by a suicide bomber took place at the gate of the region’s presidential complex inside Lamagalaay base in the restive town. The second, targeting vehicles carrying dead bodies and injured people, occurred outside the city’s main hospital, he added.
A suicide bomber killed a federal MP and a staunch critic of Somali President Amina Mohamed Abdi, days after she had traveled to the town to retain her parliament seat which the Premier said Farmajo’s allies were trying to “loot”. read more
Al-Qaeda-linked militant group Al-Shabaab said it was behind the attacks, hours after two of its fighters had breached a heavily fortified base housing foreign missions inside Mogadishu airport where they battled African Union peacekeepers and Somali security forces for hours, killing a number of foreign nationals.
Somalia’s former President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud called for an “international probe” into both assaults, saying that they cannot be described as terrorist incidents and linked them to attempts by Farmajo to silence his opponents. read more
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