Wednesday September 10, 2025
Mogadishu (HOL) — Somalia’s National Intelligence and
Security Agency (NISA), working with international partners, killed a senior
Al-Shabaab commander accused of orchestrating an assassination attempt on
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud earlier this year.
The militant, identified as Mohamed Abdi Dhiblaawe Afrah,
was killed in a joint operation in Ugunji, Lower Shabelle region. Authorities
said Afrah — who used multiple aliases including Khalid Dheere, Khalid Dacas,
Macallin Siciid, Timo-jilac, and Mohamed Sahal — was the mastermind of the
March 18 bombing at Mogadishu’s Ceel-gaabta junction that targeted the
president’s convoy.
“He was directly linked to improvised explosive devices and
ambushes that targeted both government officials and ordinary citizens. Since
the March attack, he has been closely tracked until he was eliminated today,”
NISA said in a statement.
The March attack was the first to directly target President
Mohamud since 2014, during his first term in office, when Al-Shabaab militants
bombed a hotel where he was speaking.
In March, the president was en route to Mogadishu’s airport
to travel to Adan Yabal district in Middle Shabelle, where government forces
were engaged in heavy fighting against the extremist group.
Al-Shabaab, which has waged a violent insurgency for over 15
years, continues to carry out frequent bombings and ambushes across Somalia in
its bid to topple the federal government.