Monday, April 21, 2014
Mogadishu (AFP) - A Somali lawmaker was assassinated and another wounded on Monday by a car bomb in Mogadishu, the prime minister said, the latest in a series of bomb attacks in the conflict-ravaged capital.
"Somalia has today lost a committed parliamentarian who worked tirelessly to serve the people of Somalia and help rebuild our country," Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed said in a statement, referring to slain MP Isak Mohamed.
The attack comes as the government holds a security conference hoping to tackle continued attacks by Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents.
"This cowardly attack will not derail the progress made in Mogadishu and across Somalia," Ahmed added.
Mohamed was killed when a bomb stuck to a vehicle he was in exploded in Mogadishu's Hamarweyne district, near the port and close to the heavily fortified government district.
His colleague and fellow MP Mohamed Abdi was wounded.
"The explosive device was attached to the car of the lawmaker... we are investigating and hunting the perpetrators to bring them to justice,” said Abdukadir Mohamed Abdukadir, commissioner of the Hamarweyne district.
Witnesses said the lawmakers were driving when the explosion occurred.
"The car went off as it was passed by... one of them burned to death, the other one was seriously injured," said Mohamed Adam, a witness.
The Shebab have been driven out of fixed positions in Somalia's major towns by a UN-mandated African Union force, but still regularly launch attacks that include bombs and guerrilla-style raids.
However, Somalia's political elite are divided along rival clan lines, and factional infighting is common.
The blast comes a day after Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud opened the thee-day security conference, where he claimed that the "culture of lawlessness that has plagued Somalia for the last 23 years is coming to an end."
Source: AFP