Al-Shabaab car bomb kills three people in Somali capital

Al-Shabaab car bomb kills three people in Somali capital
Somalia's al-Qaeda affiliate claimed responsibility for a car bomb on Sunday that killed three people in the capital Mogadishu, as well as the assassination of a top intelligence chief.
2 min read
24 October, 2016
Al-Shabaab have promised to increase their violence in order to disrupt impending elections [AFP]

A car bomb killed three people and wounded seven others in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, on Sunday evening.

Islamist terrorist group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack in the vicinity of the Daljirka Dahsoon Monument.

The car bomb was intended for an army checkpoint in the area, but security forces shot the driver before it could hit the army position, causing an early explosion.

“The car exploded just outside the tire repair and services center in Bondhere District north of Mogadishu,” Mohamed Abdulle, a police officer, told Voice of America.

Shabaab have also claimed responsibility for the assassination of one of Somalia’s top intelligence chiefs, Colonel Abdul Aziz Araye, in the city’s Waberi district on Monday evening.

Witnesses reported that two men carrying pistols shot Araye in the street before running away and escaping the colonel’s guards.

Shabaab leaders have repeatedly warned that they intend to disrupt the country’s elections in November and have recently scaled up their attacks in the country’s south as a result.

There have been a number of terrorist attacks in Somalia in recent weeks as a result, which led to the country’s intelligence chief dismissing a large number of agents for ‘incompetence’.