Reuters journalist at scene saw bodies of four people killed in assault near presidential palace

(Reuters): Al Shabaab militants targeted Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in a bomb attack on his motorcade as it was traveling through the capital Mogadishu on Tuesday, the group said.
Two senior government and military officials told Reuters that Mohamud was safe following the attack, and presidential adviser Zakariye Hussein wrote in a post on X that he was "good and well on his way to the front lines."
Soldiers and local residents who witnessed the attack confirmed that the president's convoy had been hit. A Reuters journalist at the scene saw the bodies of four people killed in the assault near the presidential palace.
"Our fighters targeted a convoy of vehicles carrying Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as they were leaving the presidential palace and heading to the airport," al Shabaab said in a statement posted on the al Qaeda-linked group's Telegram channel.
While al Shabaab regularly carries out attacks in Somalia as part of its decades-long campaign to topple the government, Tuesday's attack was the first to directly target Mohamud since 2014, during his first term in office, when they bombed a hotel where he was speaking.
Hours after the attack on Tuesday, state media showed images of the president in the Adan Yabal district of Somalia's Middle Shabelle region, where government forces are battling a three-week-old al Shabaab offensive.

This is why Kamala Harris really lost
- an hour ago

Mustafa Amir murder case: Father and son clash in court during case hearing
- 14 hours ago

Sindh announces holiday for educational institutions on March 22
- 12 hours ago

Source: Eagles add ex-Giants pass rusher Ojulari
- 2 hours ago

Six March Madness stars to watch
- 2 hours ago

The alarmingly high stakes in an easy Supreme Court voting rights case
- an hour ago
Army Chief stresses need for national unity in fight against terrorism
- 10 hours ago

Flatiron Books says it will keep publishing book from ex-Meta employee
- 3 hours ago

Pakistan vows full force against terrorism in recent security meeting
- 13 hours ago

Dollar surges as forex markets struggle amid IMF delays, economic pressures
- 13 hours ago
Virtual learning introduced at Balochistan universities amid growing security risks
- 10 hours ago

Ruet-e-Hilal Committee to meet on March 30 for Shawwal moon sighting
- 12 hours ago