Islamist militant group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed a general and several of his bodyguards. The suicide car bombing comes ahead of a federal assembly election.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Y. Warsame
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A Somali general and at least seven of his bodyguards were killed in a suicide attack in the capital, Mogadishu, on Sunday after their military convoy was rammed by a car bomb.
The Somali Islamist group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack, a claim confirmed by local authorities. The group frequently launches attacks on officials in the country's capital.
"There was a heavy blast caused by a car loaded with explosives alongside the industrial road," Abdiaziz Mohamed, a security official, said.
The murdered commander was identified as Major General Mohamed Jimale Rooble Jimale. He was also known by the name Goobaanle. Somalis often have a nickname that is used just as commonly as their proper name.
Somalia's Andalus radio, which is linked to al-Shabab, said "a mujahid (fighter) was martyred as his suicide car bomb killed General Goobaanle."
The day before, Somali government troops successfully took back Elwak, a town close to the Kenyan border, from heavily armed jihadists representing al-Shabab. This was just the latest in the long-standing conflict between government forcers and the insurgent Islamist group.
Somali solidiers arrive at the scene of the car bomb explosion.Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Y. Warsame
Attack launched during election build-up
The attack on the general was launched ahead of an upcoming election in which the Western-backed government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is seeking re-election. Al-Shabab once ruled much of Somalia, a country that has been devastated by two years of war and chaos.
Voting is due to start on September 25 and continue until October 10. Due to security concerns, voting will not be based on a one-person-one-vote system. Instead around 14,000 people representing the federal states will select members to sit on the legislative assembly.
While that is only a fraction of Somalia's 11 million people, it is more than the 135 elders that selected the outgoing parliament in 2012.
Somalia - caught between peace and anarchy
Somalia is a country which was synonymous with war, hunger and later Islamist extremism and terror. Now a new government with the help of the international community is hoping to change that image.
Image: STUART PRICE/AFP/Getty Images
Return to normalcy?
War-torn Somalia in the Horn of Africa has not experienced peace since the fall of President Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. The often drought stricken country later became a haven for pirates and Islamists. The al-Shabab extremists had banned all sorts of entertainments including playing football. Today, this boy can play with soldiers from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
Image: STUART PRICE/AFP/Getty Images
A new parliament for Somalia
AMISOM forces together with Ethiopian and Somalia troops have pushed al-Shabab militants from Mogadishu and other major towns. In August 2012, Somalia's new parliament was sworn in after eight years of a transitional government. For safety reasons the ceremony was conducted on the better guarded city airport.
Image: Mohamed Abdiwahab/AFP/GettyImages
The country’s hope bearer
For the first time in 20 years, Somalia’s Parliament elected a new President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in September 2012. Just two days after taking office, Sheikh Mohamud escaped a suicide bombing. The 56-year-old university professor and moderate Muslim has since become a target of several attacks.
Image: ABDURASHID ABDULLE ABIKAR/AFP/GettyImages
Liberating Somalia's coast
Somali fishermen in the coastal town of Marka, located around 100 kilometers from Mogadishu watch the arrival of AU troops in September 2012. The city on the Indian Ocean had long been an al-Shabab stronghold. At the end of September, the rebels were driven out by Kenyan AU soldiers from their last major bastion in the coastal town of Kismayu.
Image: SIMON MAINA/AFP/GettyImages
Desperate times, desperate measures
A family on the run. Fearing Islamists many civilians fled from areas controlled by al-Shabab. Famine, drought and war have caused suffering to hundreds of thousands of Somalis. Between 2010 and 2012, nearly 260,000 people died of starvation, according to UN figures.
Image: Mohamed Abdiwahab/AFP/GettyImages
Mission to protect
The presence of AU troops in Somalia has become a usual occurrence. The first troops arrived in 2007 following a decision by the AU Security Council. Part of their mandate was to protect the former transitional government. In this picture AU troops secure the inhabitants of Afgoye, located west of Mogadishu.
Image: STUART PRICE/AFP/GettyImages
Reclaiming Shabab territory
December 2012, AU troops move further inland on Islamist strongholds. A total of 17,000 soldiers are battling against al-Qaeda linked al-Shabab militants. Though more and more rural areas have been recaptured by the troops, and the security situation has generally improved in Somalia, the extremists still carry out attacks and bombings in Mogadishu.
Image: STUART PRICE/AFP/Getty Images
Return of the bombs
Just when normalcy and calm were slowly returning in Mogadishu, two coordinated suicide bomb attacks next to the country’s court house killed 16 people in April 2013. Just two weeks later, a senior Somali judicial officer and a radio journalist were shot dead in the street.
Image: Mohamed Abdiwahab/AFP/Getty Images
Tough road to recovery
Despite the setbacks, Somalia is on the road to recovery. Since the beginning of 2013, many Somalis have returned back from exile. After 22 years of absence, the United Kingdom has opened a new embassy in Mogadishu. In early May, the UN decided to deploy civilian experts to Somalia. Even the pirate attacks off the Horn of Africa have sharply decreased.
