Eight people have now died as a result of the al Shabab suicide bombing in the Jalalaqsi neighborhood of the Hiiraan region, officials announced on Friday. According to Nor Mohamed Nor Dhere, the district commissioner for Jalalaqsi, eight people, including his bodyguards, were killed in the attack and more than ten others were hurt.
The incident happened on Thursday in the late afternoon when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a tea shop where Nor Dhere was staying. Nor Dhere highlighted the fact that the bomber chose to target him because the explosion happened close to the chair he had just left moments before. Residents claim that before the bomb exploded, one of the commissioner’s bodyguards shot the assailant. Among the deceased is the bodyguard. The district commissioner acknowledged that security personnel had detained a man who was allegedly the suicide bomber’s mentor.
“Allah saved me from the explosion; the man seated in the chair I had got up just moments before the explosion is among the dead. We apprehended a person who seemed to be guiding the bomber’s actions. This man had been circling me roughly ten times before the explosion. Aftermath, he was seemingly assessing the casualties. Despite being difficult for strangers to enter our district, it appears that someone else facilitated the bomber’s arrival here,” Nor added.
Despite being forced out of Somalia’s major towns and cities, Al-Shabab still holds sway over a sizable portion of the country’s rural areas. It has also continued to launch attacks against civilian and security targets, including in the nation’s capital.
