UN envoy visits Baidoa, a day after suicide bombing

The UN team's visit comes a day after an Al-Shabaab suicide bomber killed the justice minister of the regional state and his son outside a mosque shortly after the Friday prayers.

News Keydmedia Online
31 July 2022

BAIDOA, Somalia - The President of the Southwest state of Somalia, Abdizais Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen, received a delegation led by the United Nations envoy, James Swan in Baidoa city.

The UN delegation included the head of IOM in Somalia and the deputy representative of UNHCR who arrived today in Baidoa on a humanitarian and political mission, according to the reports.

President Laftagareen and James Swan discussed issues such as the strengthening of cooperation between Southwest State and the new Somali government led by Hassan Sheikh, drought, the fight against terrorism, and the implementation of development projects.

The UN team's visit comes a day after an Al-Shabaab suicide bomber killed the justice minister of the regional state and his son outside a mosque shortly after the Friday prayers.

The overall security of the city, 245 kilometers south of Mogadishu, the Somali capital has been extremely tightened in fear of more terrorist attacks by Al-Shabaab which doubled the bombings over the past two months.

UN supports African Union troops who are helping the Somali army defeat Al-Shabaab and regain full control of the country. The AU mission which began in 2007 is made up of troops from Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti.

Al-Shabaab has now opened a new front in Ethiopia crossing through the Bakol region on the border under Southwest State, making the security more volatile and exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.

The Al-Qaeda-linked group carried out two attacks in eastern Ethiopia this week, targeting the Liyu police who are in charge of border security. The two sides have suffered heavy losses in the battlefields.

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