Somalia: Puntland official narrowly escapes bomb blast

[Coeus]

Ahmed Ali Salad, the governor of Somalia’s Mudug region under the semi-autonomous state of Puntland, narrowly escaped a bomb blast planted beside a road in Galka’yo, witnesses and officials said Monday.

The bomb, believed to be a roadside device set off by remote control, rocked the town, wounding at least two civilians, according to a local resident.

Shortly afterwards, the governor told the local press that he and bodyguards survived from what he called an apparent assassination. He gave no further details. Locals said the wounded civilians were taken to hospitals in the town for treatment.

Just minutes after the blast, a large number of Puntland security forces flanked by military vehicles reached the site of the explosion and started search operations. It is still unknown whether anyone was arrested during the operations.

No one has claimed the responsibility of the bomb attack so far.

Insecurity and violence in parts of Puntland have reportedly been rampant in the last few months.

On Nov. 30, Abdullahi Salah Shirwa', Puntland's high court attorney, was killed at the center of the port town of Bosaso, about 1,500 kilometers north of Somalia's capital Mogadishu.

Also, in mid October, Abdulhakem Ahmed Guled, the information minister of Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland, was injured by a roadside bomb, also in Bosaso.

Puntland authorities suspect Al Shabaab, which has declared its allegiance to the Al Qaeda terror network, of plotting numerous assassinations against Puntland officials.


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