Al-Shabaab Bomb Attack Kills Somalia’s Puntland Governor

By Staff, Agencies

A governor in Somalia’s Puntland was killed in a bomb attack by militants from the Takfiri terrorist al-Shabaab group.

Governor Abdisalan Hassan Hersi of the Nugaal region died of the wounds he sustained in the bombing on Sunday shortly after arriving at a hospital, police and hospital sources reported on Monday.

According to eyewitnesses, a bomber had run to the governor’s vehicle and detonated his explosives.

“He was in a critical condition when he was admitted to hospital,” an unnamed medic told AFP. “He was badly wounded in the blast and he had little chance of surviving such serious injuries.”

A former police commander and a civilian were also wounded in the attack.

Al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab terrorists were driven out of the capital city, Mogadishu, with the help of international African Union forces in 2011.

The terrorist group has since lost power in most of its former strongholds athough it still wields significant influence in vast swathes of the countryside, from where it recruits, coordinates, and launches attacks against government, military, and civilian targets in Somalia and neighboring countries.

Earlier this year, the terrorist group launched an attack against a military base in neighboring Kenya.