Somali President Survives Al-Shabaab Attack
Somali sources reported that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud survived an attack carried out by Al-Shabaab, the Al-Qaeda-linked militant group, targeting his convoy in the capital, Mogadishu, on Tuesday.
According to Reuters, a government official and a military source confirmed that President Sheikh Mohamud was “safe” following the attack. Presidential advisor Zakaria Hussein also wrote on X that the president was “doing well and on his way to the front lines.” Soldiers and local residents who witnessed the attack confirmed that the president’s convoy was hit, while Reuters reported seeing the bodies of four people killed in the attack near the presidential palace.
In a statement published on its Telegram channel, Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility, saying, “Our fighters targeted a convoy carrying Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as he was leaving the presidential palace en route to the airport.”
Although Al-Shabaab frequently launches attacks in Somalia as part of its decades-long campaign to overthrow the government, Tuesday’s incident marks the first direct attack on President Sheikh Mohamud since 2014. During his first term in office, the group had bombed a hotel where he was speaking.
Hours after the attack, state media broadcast images of the president in Aden Yabal, in the Middle Shabelle region of Somalia, where government forces have been facing a continuous Al-Shabaab offensive for three weeks.
