Seven People Injured In Shelling Of Somali Parliament – Reports

[Deeq A.]

At least seven people were injured in the shelling of the Somali parliament’s building in the capital of Mogadishu, the local news reported on Monday.

The shelling occurred during a parliamentary session, Goobjoog News portal said, citing sources. Seven people were reportedly injured, including two bodyguards of an opposition party leader and presidential candidate Abdirahman Abdishakur. The lawmakers left the parliament building after the shelling.

Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble has condemned the attack, the media reported.

On April 5, Somalia’s security agency warned that the Al-Shabaab movement (affiliate of al-Qaeda, banned in Russia) was planning to assassinate Roble and President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed.

Al Shabaab is based in Somalia, waging insurgency against the Somalian government and obstructing UN humanitarian activities.

Somalia collapsed as a unified nation in 1991 with the downfall of Siad Barre’s dictatorship. The international community recognized the Federal government as the only legitimate authority in the country, which controls Mogadishu and several other areas. The rest of Somalia is controlled by self-governing or unrecognized state entities, including the unrecognized Republic of Somaliland in the north and the autonomous Puntland region in the northeast.

Qaran News