Senior military official succumbs to blast wounds in Somalia

The Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab terror group has claimed credit for the bomb attack, which was the latest in a string of terrorist incidents in the contested province near Somalia’s border with Kenya.

News Keydmedia Online
18 January 2021

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The chief of the 43rd Division of the Somali National Army [SNA] in Bardere district of Gedo region Col Mohamed Dheere has succumbed to deep wounds he suffered in a roadside bomb explosion on Sunday.

The IED blast ripped through a convoy carrying the military official outside the town, killing soldiers after their vehicle was extensively damaged, according to local security sources.

The Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab terror group has claimed credit for the bomb attack, which was the latest in a string of terrorist incidents in the contested province near Somalia’s border with Kenya.

The Somali government has deployed additional soldiers to Gedo last year, sparking tension between SNA and Jubaland regional troops backed by the Kenyan defense Forces [KDF] serving under AMISOM.

The two rival forces engaged in deadly battles in 2020 that led to a diplomatic tiff between Somalia and Kenya after the Farmajo administration blamed Nairobi for frequent interference in the country’s politics.

After relations worsened last year, Mogadishu summoned its diplomat in Nairobi and expelled Kenya's envoy from the country, a move that led IGAD to hold an extraordinary summit in Djibouti last December to mediate between the two nations.

Kenya is one of the countries that contributed troops to the African Union Mission in Somalia [AMISOM], made up of 22,000 soldiers helping the government in the fight against Al-Shabaab.

KON English News Desk