Al-Shabaab assassinates senior intelligence officer in Somalia

The murder comes amid intensified attacks in the country by Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda ally in East Africa that wants to oust the UN-backed Somali government in Mogadishu. 

News Keydmedia Online
12 October 2021

MOGADISHU, Somalia - A senior officer of the Somali national intelligence service [NISA] was assassinated in the capital Mogadishu, said the sources on Tuesday.

Abdishakur Raage [Abdi Yare] was killed in an IED attack on his car in the northern volatile district of Deynile while on a patrol mission early in the morning.

The incident took place at El-Shaalle area, a hotbed of terror after a remote-controlled landmine struck a military vehicle, he was traveling in. Three bodyguards were also killed in the explosion.

The Al-Qaeda-linked terror group Al-Shabaab has claimed the responsibility for the bombing, says it killed the NISA official in charge of Deynile and 11 soldiers.

Mogadishu has witnessed a surge in terrorist attacks by Al-Shabaab, the Al-Qaeda-linked group which is waging a decade-long insurgency against the UN-backed Somali government.

The rising violence comes amid the electioneering period in the country coupled with a political standoff between the outgoing president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo and PM Mohamed Hussein Roble.

The two leaders are in deadlock over the murder case of NISA female agent Ikran Tahlil who was killed within the spy agency by its bosses Fahad Yasin and Abdullahi Kulane this year.

Farmajo is trying to prevent his right-hand man Fahad Yasin, the main suspect in the killing from prosecution as the PM formed a team to investigate the disappearance of the 25-year-old girl. 

Tahlil has had classified information about thousands of youths recruited by Fahad Yasin from the regions, who were sent to Eritrea for training in 2019-2020 and never come back home.

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