A senior Somali intelligence officer was killed Thursday in an attack by the Al Shabaab terrorist group in the Gedo region, amid stepped-up security operations to take out the Al Qaeda-linked formation.
Official sources quoted by the Somali news portal Garowe Online have indicated that Abdulahi Bakal Kuke, head of the regional intelligence services, was killed by the explosion of a bomb in his vehicle while driving between the cities of Luuq and Dolou.
The incident also left five people injured and came after Kuke played an important role in the fight against Al Shabaab in Gedo. The terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack, without giving further details.
The head of the Somali intelligence services, Mahad Salad, has expressed his condolences to Kuke’s family, whom he described as «a martyr», while ordering «a serious investigation» into the attack, as highlighted by the agency through its account on the social network Twitter.
Somali President Hassan Shaykh Mohamud said Tuesday that Al Shabaab «is history» and called on the population to «support the liberation operations» of the security forces. He also called for «preparing for a Somalia after Al Shabaab» and for «the reconstruction of the country».
Shaykh Mohamud vowed in mid-November to continue the «all-out war» against the group and stressed that «turning back and defeat are not an option». Somalia has in recent months stepped up offensives against Al Shabaab with the support of local clans and militias as part of a series of decisions taken by the president, who pledged on taking office to put the fight against terrorism at the center of his efforts to stabilize the African country.
