Galmudug president has escaped unscathed following a suicide car bomb rocked the Mudug region, claiming the lives of several individuals and leaving many others wounded on Friday.
Among the victims were two federal lawmakers, whose injuries have sent shockwaves through the nation.
The targeted site was a camp located in the strategic village of Laas-Gacmey, nestled between the districts of Wisil and Ba’adweyne. The camp was hosting the esteemed Galmudug President, parliamentarians, and various government officials at the time of the deadly explosion.
General Mohamed Nur Ali Gadaar, the commander of the Galmudug Dervish army, confirmed the tragic loss of life among the Galmudug Presidential guards and disclosed injuries sustained by other soldiers. Although regional President Ahmed Abdi Kariye Qoor-Qoor and other officials managed to escape unharmed, the blast wreaked havoc on the camp, resulting in injuries caused by the destruction of buildings.
Senator Abdi Hassan Qaybdid reportedly suffered an injury when a rock dislodged from a building wall where he was sleeping. Lawmaker Abdisalam Haji Dhabancad recounted the harrowing experience, revealing that the car bomb struck the very spot where they had rested the previous night. The MP himself sustained a minor hand injury due to the collapse of the building.
In a recorded video, Galmudug President Ahmed Abdi Kariye QorQor asserted that the al-Shabab attack had failed, expressing confidence in the army’s ability to achieve significant victories against the group in the days to come.
Over the past three weeks, President Ahmed QorQor, alongside Somalia’s Defense Minister Abdukhadir Mohamud Nur and other regional and federal officials, has been stationed on the frontline in the Galgadud region. This intensified presence has aimed to bolster anti-al-Shabab operations in central Somalia.
This latest attack follows a series of grim incidents. Earlier this week, MP Mohamed Mohamud Ahmed, also known as Mohamed Yare, a prominent member of the Galmudug Parliament, and Abdullahi Ibrahim Shaaciye, a member of the Dhusamareb Local Council, lost their lives in a fatal landmine explosion in El-Garas town in the Galgadud region. The lawmakers had ventured to the town on Monday to visit troops who had recently recaptured the village from al-Shabab.
For more than a decade, the Somali federal government, with the support of international partners and African Union forces, has been engaged in a protracted battle against the militant group Al-Shabaab. Although significant progress has been made, with territorial gains, the militant group still exerts control over vast rural areas of the country, relentlessly perpetrating attacks not only in the capital city of Mogadishu but also in other regions.
