Somali interior minister killed by bomb attack in own home

Saturday, June 11, 2011 

Abdi Shakur Sheikh Hassan, the interior minister of Somalia, was killed in a bomb attack at his home in Mogadishu on Friday. The suicide bomber was a veiled woman said to be his teenage niece and a member of the militant al-Shabab, an Islamic group. According to the BBC, his niece was a frequent visitor and no security check was performed. She was killed instantly and the minister died on his way to treatment.

This is the third suicide attack in as many weeks in Somalia’s capital city.

Senior police chief Nur Farah said he believed that a second bomb may have been placed under Hassan’s bed. He said to Reuters that “[t]he minister was killed by a relative from inside his house, it was unfortunate and unexpected. A big bomb must have been put under the minister’s bed. The explosives on the suicide bomber could not destroy the concrete room that way.”

Ahmed Mohamed, the minister’s driver spoke about the attack, saying that “[s]uddenly, I heard a loud explosion. I saw the flesh of the suicide bomber in the balcony near the minister’s house. I went into his room and saw him lying injured.”

At the time of the attack Mogadishu, as well as other parts of Somalia, have been hit with two days of political protests. Citizens have been protesting against a deal to extend the mandates of the parliament and President.