Somalia: Mayor Osman Dies after Bombing

The mayor of Somalia’s capital city has died after being grievously wounded in an extremist bombing on his office last week.

According to reports, Abdirahman Omar Osman – who served as the mayor of Mogadishu since January 2018 – was in a security meeting at his Banadir district office on Wednesday, 24 July.

During the meeting, a female suicide bomber entered his office and detonated a device. It is currently unknown how she entered the office without setting off four metal detectors.

Six government officials were killed in the blast, while nine staff members were wounded.

Osman – along with the injured staff members – was airlifted to Doha, Qatar, for treatment. He succumbed to his injuries on Thursday, 1 August.

Militant jihadi group, al-Shabab – of whom Osman was an outspoken opponent – claimed responsibility for the bombing. However, they said that their target was actually US special envoy to Somalia, James Swan, who had left the building hours earlier.

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