Somalia government spokesman wounded in blast in capital

Published: January 16, 2022

A suicide bomber is believed to have targeted Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu, who was rushed to hospital.

Somalia’s government spokesperson was wounded in an explosion in the capital in a suspected suicide bomber attack, state-run media reported.

A photographer at the scene of the blast on Sunday reported seeing body parts lying on the ground outside the house of Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu, who was rushed to a hospital.

State-run Somali National News Agency said the explosion at a junction of a Mogadishu road was from a suicide bomber.

“A suicide bomber targeted the government spokesman who is now being treated in hospital for his injuries from the blast,” police spokesman Abdifatah Aden told Reuters news agency.

Nasra Bashir Ali, state media special correspondent in the prime minister’s office, where Moalimuu is based, said on Twitter he did not suffer life-threatening injuries in the attack, which targeted him as he was passing in his vehicle.

Reporting from Mogadishu, Al Jazeera’s Jamae Nour said it was not the first time Moalimuu, a former journalist, had been targeted in an assassination attempt.

“According to a statement from the national news agency, Moalimuu was attacked by a person wearing a suicide belt. The attacker detonated the belt near Moalimuu when he was leaving his residence,” said Nour.

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