MOGADISHU – Somalia’s security forces launched an operation to tighten the overall security of the capital city of Mogadishu, amid deadly attacks by Al Shabaab.
The move comes after suicide car bomb hit Mogadishu’s Hodan district headquarters on Monday, leaving 10 people dead.
Big stones and sand bags were reportedly placed to all roads leading to local government offices in Somali capital Mogadishu, in a bid to avert orchestrated attacks.
Fears are high that the al-Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab group will seek to disrupt security by carrying out an attack on the capital, according to a source, who asked to be anonymous.
He says heavily armed security personnel patrolled the streets of the capital, while several main roads leading to the local government offices were blocked off with sand berms.
The troubled Horn of Africa nation, which has not had an effective central government in three decades, had been promised a one-person, one-vote election in 2020.
However, political infighting and insecurity, mainly due to al-Shabaab militants who control swathes of countryside and strike at key areas in Mogadishu.
The group claimed Monday’s suicide car bomb that destroyed Hodan district headquarters in the capital.
The killed 10 people, mostly civilians and injured 18 others, according to medical officials.
Last week, six people were killed and 18 others, including six children injured in an Al-Shabaab suicide bomb attack at local government office in Somali capital Mogadishu.
The group has been waging insurgency for more than 10 years in Somalia.
Al-Shabaab has been in decline since 2011 but still launches regular, deadly attacks against government, military and civilian targets in the capital and elsewhere.
