The Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility of their latest attacks in the capital Mogadishu and another one in Dhusamareeb targeted key leaders.
The militant group claimed that, the Saturday complex attack on Hotel AFRIK in the capital Mogadishu targeted retired General Mohamed Nur Galal. The General was killed in the attack that left a total of nine people dead and several others critically injured.
Al-Shabaab through its propaganda media channels accused General Mohamed Nur Galal of being involved in killing of their operatives.
Trying to justify the heinous act of killing the innocent, Al-Shabaab said General Galal was in the hotel which is part of his investment and that he was an ‘apostate’. The militants detonated a bomb outside before firing indiscriminately, killing a total of five people during the attack. Four militants who participated in the attack were also killed.
In another raid, Al-Shabaab fired at least seven rounds in Dhusamareeb, the regional administrative capital of Galmadug, where the Somalia’s leaders were set to meet to discuss the pre-election standoff which has delayed elections in the war-torn nation.
According to credible local reports, Al-Shabaab begun firing mortar shells at the town of Dhusamareeb shortly after the arrival of PM Mohamed Hussein Roble and President Farmajo, who were expected to chair a three-day meeting.
In an attack that was meant to sent a message to key leaders in Somalia, four innocent Somalis were caught in the residential areas and were injured. Al-Shabaab has upscaled it attacks from across the regions of Somalia with key targets being security forces, senior government officials and innocent civilians.
