20 arrested in connection to Kismayo blast, officials condemn attack

SABAHI
Saturday, September 14, 2013

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Police in Kismayo have arrested 20 suspects in connection to the suicide car bomb attack that targeted leader of the Interim Jubba Administration Ahmed Mohamed Islam Madobe and killed at least ten people Thursday (September 12th), Somalia's Kismaayo reported.

Police conducted security operations in the city after the attack and the suspects are now being questioned at Kismayo central police station.

Initial reports said Madobe was wounded in the al-Shabaab attack, but in a press conference after the attack, he said he was unharmed.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud condemned the attack. "I call on the people in Jubba regions to collectively fight against the militant group's killing of people and leaders," he said, according to Radio Mogadishu.

African Union Special Representative to Somalia Mahamat Saleh Annadif and United Nations Special Representative to Somalia Nicholas Kay joined Mohamud in condemning the attack.

"We will continue to stand by the people of Somalia as they fight against the violent minority that seeks to drag them back into the dark days of chaos and anarchy," Annadif said.

Kay sent his condolences to those who lost loved ones in the attack.

"Ahmed Madobe is a key partner in the search for peace and reconciliation in Somalia. It is reprehensible that he would become a target for extremist violence at a time when he is playing a key role in state-building and peacebuilding," Kay said in a statement.

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