Mayor of Mogadishu dies as result of al-Shabaab terrorist attack

The mayor of Mogadishu has died after being badly wounded in an al-Shabaab extremist attack in his office last week, the government of Somalia announced.

Abdirahman Omar Osman was a naturalised Briton who returned to Somalia to help rebuild the war-torn country after serving as a councillor in London for the Labour party.

He died on Thursday in Qatar, where he had been airlifted for treatment after the attack on 24 July. Officials said he had been in a coma.

He had sustained serious injuries when a suicide bomber from the al-Shabaab militant group struck while a meeting was being held at the municipal government headquarters last week, killing six senior local government officials.

Somalia-based al-Shabaab and Somali officials have said a rare female suicide bomber used in the attack had been aiming for James Swan, the US United Nations special representative for Somalia, who had left the office just minutes earlier.

It was not clear how the bomber managed to enter the mayor’s office, as visitors are required to pass through at least four metal detectors.

The US mission to Somalia in a tweet called Osman “an excellent partner and tireless advocate for the people of Mogadishu and all Somalis”.

President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed declared three days of mourning for the mayor, ordering that flags be flown at half mast.

Osman had previously served as Somalia’s information minister, a post he had been appointed to in 2010. He became mayor of Mogadishu last year.

Source: The Guardian