A Somali government spokesman was wounded Sunday in an attack by the Al-Shabaab jihadist group, though his wounds are “not serious,” the Prime Minister’s office said.
“The spokesman of the Somali Federal government was wounded in a terrorist attack, his injuries are not serious and we wish him quick recovery,” the office said in a statement.
Multiple sources said the attacker attempted to get onto the spokesman’s car before detonating explosives, partially destroying the vehicle.
“A suicide bomber jumped onto a vehicle transporting the spokesman of the government Mohamed Ibrahim, he was lucky to have survived with light injuries,” said a policeman at the scene of the attack.
“Two other people got injured in the blast.”
Witnesses confirmed that the attacker had pressed himself against the car before a loud explosion was heard.
Al-Shabaab claimed the attack in a statement.
Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu has been a spokesman and adviser to the Prime Minister for more than a year, having previously been a journalist with the BBC broadcaster and is a former secretary general of the National Union of Somali Journalists.
He has survived several attacks on residences where he has been staying, escaping unharmed from a 2019 attack on one property which was besieged for almost 22 hours.
Sunday’s attack came after Somali leaders agreed this month to wrap up parliamentary elections by February 25, after repeated delays that have threatened the stability of the troubled country.
Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble and Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, better known by his nickname Farmajo, have long been at loggerheads over the long-delayed elections, with fears their squabbling could erupt into violence.
