Suicide attack injures city Mayor, kills six high officials at Mogadishu government HQ

MOGADISHU, July 24 – A suicide bombing at municipal government headquarters in the Somalian capital Mogadishu on Wednesday killed six people including district commissioners and local government chiefs, the country’s information minister said.

Al Qaeda-linked Islamist militant group al Shabaab, which aims to topple Somalia’s U.N.-backed government, claimed responsibility for the bombing, the latest of many such attacks.

“We conducted a successful operation in Mogadishu this afternoon. The target was the newly appointed U.N. envoy to Somalia and other senior enemy members. Some of them were eliminated, others wounded,” al Shabaab spokesman Abdiasis Abu Musab said in a statement sent to Reuters. 

Top regional and district officials died in the attack including AbdiAziz district commissioner, Ms Sabah Asad, the District Commissioner of Waberi, Mr Mahad Elmi, and the Municipal Council Directors of Sanitation and Labour, Abdifattah Omar, regional HR manager, Mr Abdullahu Dheere and Chief Engineer of the Banadir region, Eng Shuuriye. So did, Attorney Hassan Mohamed Sabriye, a Special Advisor to the Mayor-cum-Governor, Engineer Yarisow.

Six other people were injured in the “terrorist act” including the mayor of Mogadishu, Information Minister Mohamed Abdi Hayir told reporters. The U.N. envoy, American James Swan, had paid a visit to the mayor earlier on Wednesday, according to the Twitter feed of the U.N. assistance mission in Somalia. 

“I deplore this heinous attack which not only demonstrates a violent disregard for the sanctity of human life but also targets Somalis working to improve the lives of their fellow Somalis in the Mogadishu-Banadir region,” Mr. Swan said of the incident. “The United Nations stands with the people and government of Somalia in their rejection of such terrorist acts, and our thoughts are with the victims of this attack.”

“A suicide bomber walked into the meeting hall and blew up himself,” said Mohamed Abdullahi, a relative of one of the victims, told Reuters. The area was filled with ambulances after the blast, shopkeeper Mohamed Osman said.

UN and EU officials separately condemned the attack and sent condolences.

The Horn of Africa country has been riven by conflict since 1991, when clan warlords overthrew a dictator, then turned on each other.