Al-Shabaab conducted series of attacks as Somalia awaited ICJ verdict

GOOBJOOG NEWS|MOGADISHU: Al-Shabaab unleashed terror Tuesday,  killing a total of 17 people across Somalia as the nation stood on the edge awaiting the ICJ ruling on the maritime dispute pitting Somalia and Kenya.

In the first incident, an explosion in Deynile district, Benadir region, confirmed that a land mine explosion killed 12 members of the security team belonging to Deynile security chief Abdishakur Rage (Abdi Yare) with Abdi being one of the fatalities.

Reliable sources indicate that the security chief and his entourage were conducting a security operation on the outskirts of the district when they were hit by a bomb. Most of the soldiers killed in the attack were members of the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA).

The attack comes days after Daynile district commissioner Mohamed Abukar Jafar vowed to scale the fight against insurgents in areas under Deynile jurisdiction.

Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack in one of its media outlets saying that it had killed Deynile security chief as well as 11 of his bodyguards

In the second incident, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a teashop in the county’s capital, Mogadishu, killing five civilians and injuring 6 others. The bomber struck at the Fagah intersection  shortly after the ICJ ruling was released on Tuesday afternoon.

Just like the Deynile incident, Al-Shabaab has also claimed responsibility for the suicide attack.

The attack comes at a time when Somalia recently rejected extension of AMISOM mandate beyond 2021, opting for the implementation of the Somali Transition Plan (STP) which would see the  Somalia National Army take over the security ropes of its predecessor.