Bomb blast in Somalia kills senior intelligence officer
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) – A senior Somali national intelligence and security officer was killed and another senior official wounded in a bomb blast in the country’s southwestern province of Gedo on Friday, officials said, in an attack claimed by al-Shabab.
Ali Yussuf Abdullahi, Gedo regional administration spokesman, told Anadolu Agency after the attack that Bakal Koke, the Gedo region intelligence chief, was killed in a bomb attack targeting his convoy while traveling between the town of Luq and Dolow, a town bordering Ethiopia.
He said another senior official who was traveling with the same vehicle has been seriously wounded and airlifted to the capital Mogadishu for treatment.
Mahad Salad, Somalia’s national intelligence and security agency chief, also confirmed the death of the senior intelligence officer and ordered the spy agency to “quickly” start investigating the matter.
Al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack.
The attack comes days after the group lost control of the strategic town of Adan Yabal in Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region.
Government forces backed by local clan militias have liberated large swathes of territories mainly in the state of Hirshabele from the group since Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mahamud announced an “all-out war” on al-Shabab.
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