A suicide bomber in the Somali capital has injured government spokesman and former journalist Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu.
Witnesses told VOA Somali that a suicide bomber ran toward Moalimuu’s vehicle in central Mogadishu and detonated an explosive vest.
Moalimuu sustained injuries to the hand and leg from shrapnel from the device.
The Somali militant group al-Shabab immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Moalimuu has survived at least three previous al-Shabab attacks, and tweeted “It was a lucky escape” after surviving one in 2016.
Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble has condemned the “odious terrorist attack” that targeted Moalimuu. Roble said Moalimuu is in stable condition and wished him a quick recovery.
Moalimuu is a former journalist for the BBC Somali Service. He also led the Federation of Somali Journalists a national union of professional journalists in Somalia, before joining the government.
A person-borne homemade bomb, used increasingly in recent months by al-Shabab, targeted Moalimuu, according to security sources.
On November 20, a similar device killed journalist and director of Somali government radio Abdiaziz Mohamud Guled “Abdiaziz Africa” in Mogadishu. Today’s attack appeared to use the same technique.
