SOMALIA: ICRC mourns death of staff in bomb attack in Mogadishu

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday that it is deeply troubled by death of its staff who succumbed to injuries after a bomb attached to their vehicle exploded in Mogadishu on Wednesday.
The charity said Abdulhafid Yusuf Ibrahim who passed away Wednesday night after succumbing to injuries from an improvised explosive device, which detonated while he was in his private car leaving the ICRC office in the Somali capital.
“We are devastated by the loss of Abdulhafid, who was a valued member of our team in Somalia,” Simon Brooks, ICRC’s head of delegation for Somalia said in a statement issued in Mogadishu.
“We extend our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones during this very difficult time,” Brooks added. One other ICRC staff member suffered minor injuries in the explosion and is now recovering.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack but extremist group Al-Shabaab often targets high-profile areas of the capital.
A Somali national, Ibrahim who leaves behind a wife and two daughters, aged one and two, joined the ICRC team five months ago as a communication and legal liaison officer.
In this role, the charity said the deceased played a critical part in promoting the principles of international humanitarian law, which aim to limit human suffering in times of armed conflict.
“By promoting international humanitarian law, Ibrahim was fully committed to the protection of civilians from the devastating impacts of armed conflict and violence,” said Brooks.
“It is a profound tragedy that he died of the very kind of attacks he was fighting so hard to prevent.”