Somalia’s capital sees worst bombing since the start of 2022

A similar attack was reported at the same time in Darussalam village of Yaqshid district in the north of Mogadishu after Al-Shabaab unleashed a car bomb and direct assault on a military base.

News Keydmedia Online
16 February 2022

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Al-Shabaab launched car bombs and gun attacks in Mogadishu, in what security experts described as one of the worst since the beginning of this year.

The began first began at a police station in Kahda district, located in the southern part of the capital after a bomber detonated a car bomb at gates, allowing gunmen to storm inside.

The militants engaged in a nearly an hour gunfight with the police in the station that left one officer dead and several, including civilians in a nearby house, were wounded by the blast.

A resident confirmed that the attack in Kahda started at 1:30 A.M. before dawn and took security forces almost 20 minutes to end after the extremists retreated back from the area.

A similar attack was reported at the same time in Darussalam village of Yaqshid district in the north of Mogadishu after Al-Shabaab unleashed a car bomb and direct raid on a military base.

Speaking to the reporters on Wednesday morning, police spokesman Major Abdifatah Aden said two women died in the Darussalam raid. An earlier estimate has put the death toll at five.

There have been more blasts happened in Elasha Biyaha and Hodon district with Al-Shabaab claiming it carried out six assaults in the capital without out providing casualty figures.

After the attack, Somali PM Mohamed Hussein Roble called for an emergency meeting with security chiefs to discuss the stability of the capital and how to avert further terrorist raids.

The current government led by Farmajo has failed in the security and the fight against Al-Shabaab in the past five years risking the country’s journey to recovery from the civil war.

The Al-Qaeda-linked group has suffered a series of territorial losses in Somalia's southern and central region since 2011 and analysts say it is increasingly resorting to insurgent tactics.

KEYDMEDIA English