Govt official killed outside Somali presidential palace

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the murder of the female government employee, but the police pointed the finger of the blame at Al-Shabaab, which often carries out such attacks in the city.

News Keydmedia Online
27 January 2022

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Suspected Al-Shabaab assailants have killed a senior Somali government official in the capital, Mogadishu on Tuesday night, the latest assassination on the civil servants and security force members.

Police said gunmen stormed the house of Safiya Abukar Karani who was the chief of finance at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs near the presidential palace and killed her in front of her children.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the murder of the female government employee, but the police pointed the finger of the blame at Al-Shabaab, which often carries out such attacks in the city.

The government has condemned the assassination of Karani whose husband Muhyadin Mohamed was killed in an explosion in Mogadishu by Al-Shabaab. He was a former deputy defense minister.

The slaying comes amid a significant increase of terrorist attacks in the capital with at least six blasts and a series of killings were recorded since the start of the new year, 2022 due to lax security.

Al-Shabaab was driven out of the capital and major towns in southern Somalia from 2011 by SNA and AU troops, but the group continued to stage high-profile attacks in East Africa, including Kenya.

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