Security was heightened at the Somalia’s Presidential palace in Mogadishu on Wednesday following the al-Shabaab extremists attack on an African Union troop’s base, Horseed Media reports.
Presidential guards and security forces intensified their presence around the Presidential palace increasing the number of checkpoints and patrols with fears of an imminent attack by the terror group.
Villa Somalia is a heavily fortified, but neglected compound in the heart of the city where the most senior Somali government officials, including the president, have their offices. Some also live inside the compound.
‘’We were stopped by the guards and searched our car and also vehicles using the roads close to the palace,’’ said one local resident.
Since the al-Qaeda-linked militant group was pushed out of the capital, it has carried a number of assassinations and suicide attacks in which it targeted government and security officers.
A spokesman from the extremists vowed to launch more attacks against the government and the African Union troops in the country.
Last year, al-Shabaab twice launched spectacular attacks on the Presidential palace highlighting their ability to penetrate and conduct strikes in an area regarded as the most secure oasis in Mogadishu.
On Tuesday, at least 19 Ugandan soldiers of the African Union troops were killed in the Janale town attack.
Horseed Media
Somalia: Security tightened at Mogadishu Presidential Palace Over possible terror threat
Published: September 2, 2015
