Al-Shabab militants have carried out multiple attacks in Somalia in recent weeks, including a deadly assault on a military base about 30 miles from Mogadishu and the storming of a hotel in the center of the capital.
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“We extend our thoughts and prayers to the families and friends of the Somali people and [the African Union peacekeeping] personnel who were killed and injured in this barbarous attack”, the United States Mission to Somalia said in a statement on Tuesday. Ismail, also known as Salah Badbado, called his former parliamentary colleagues “infidels” before joining the terrorist group.
Salah Badbado, 53, served in Somalia’s parliament from 2004 until 2010, when he declared at a press conference he was leaving politics to join the Somali al-Qaeda affiliate.
It is not clear which of the two attackers was Ismail.
“The current so-called Somali government lawmakers should follow suit”. Somali officials have not yet confirmed the identity of the suicide bombers involved in Tuesday’s attacks.
The group is working to overthrow Somalia’s Western-backed government, Reuters notes.
They had tried to breach the security compound wall housing United Nations and African Union peacekeepers near the airport, but were stopped at a checkpoint on the road leading to the base.
“Thirteen people died in the two suicide vehicle explosions”, Abdifatah Omar Halane, spokesman for Banadir administration, the local government, told Al Jazeera by phone from the scene of the blasts.
“We remain committed to helping Somalia progress along a path towards peace and prosperity and the defeat of terrorist groups, including al-Shabaab”.
Police said the first attacker detonated a auto bomb and the second tried to storm the base on foot, but was shot and exploded at the gate.
“In Somalia, al-Shabab has aspired since its founding about 10 years ago to rule the country under a fanatical interpretation of Sharia law”.
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They have managed to push al-Shabab out of the capital, but the group still holds large swaths of territory and frequently launches hit-and-run attacks.
