PARLIAMENT MEMBER KILLED IN SOMALIA ATTACK

Mogadishu, 22 Jumadil Akhir 1435/22 April 2014 (MINA) –  A Somalian police officer, Mohamed Dalane said Abdiaziz Isak Mohamed, the parliament member was shot on Tuesday by armed men.

It was occured in the place where a bomb concealed in his vehicle exploded in Mogadishu’s Hamarweyne district, near the port and close to the heavily fortified government district.  Another legislator was also killed the day before in the capital’s Madina district.

Mohamed Abdi, another MP, was wounded in that attack. The assailants escaped after the killing on Tuesday, witnesses and police said, Al Jazeera reported as quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).

The attacks come as the government holds the third and final day of a security conference hoping to tackle continued attacks by al-Shabab.

Al-Shabab have been driven out of fixed positions in Somalia’s major towns by a UN-mandated African Union force, but still regularly launch attacks that include bombings and guerrilla-style raids.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s assassination, but al-Shabab said they carried out Monday’s attack which killed Isak Mohamed.

“The mujahedeen fighters targeted and killed one of those who claimed to be ‘legislators’ and injured another one,” Abu Musab said.

“Those apostates were helping the infidels.”

Recent al-Shabab attacks have targeted key areas of government or the security forces, in an apparent bid to discredit claims by the authorities that they are winning the war against the Islamist fighters.

In February, al-Shabab fighters carried out a major attack against the heavily fortified presidential palace, killing officials and guards in heavy gun battles.

AU troops and Somali government forces launched a fresh offensive against al-Shabab bases last month, seizing a series of towns, but most al-Shabab fighters fled in advance, escaping unharmed.(T/P04/P03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)