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| Africa Horn |
| Somalia: Ex-governor targeted by Al-Qaeda linked militants |
| 2010-05-14 |
| [ADN Kronos] Militants from Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab group on Thursday claimed responsibility for an assassination attempt against the former governor of Mogadishu, Mohamed Omar Habeb. One person was killed and Habeb and four others with him were injured when a roadside bomb exploded as his car drove by in Mogadishu's Shangay district. In a message posted to jihadist websites, Al-Shabab claimed to have killed Habeb's four bodyguards in Wednesday's attempted assassination. Habeb is an active opponent of Al-Shabab. "We have struck at the apostate former governor of Mogadishu and have killed some of his body guards," the message said. "Al-Shabab's explosives team has struck in the Shangay district and Habeb's car was destroyed in the resulting inferno - even if the apostate seems to have survived." It is reportedly the second time Al-Shabab has tried to kill Habeb, who survived an assassination attempt against him earlier this year. Al-Shabab fighters and other Islamist rebels are plotting a series of 10 suicide attacks in Mogadishu, a spokesman for the African Union Peacekeeping Mission to Somalia, told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat last week. Al-Shabab, one of Somalia's two main rebel groups, announced in February it had 'merged' with Al-Qaeda to establish an Islamic state in the country. |
| Posted by:Fred |