4 killed in Somalia blast ahead of presidential vote

MOGADISHU: Somali police say at least four people have been killed by a suicide explosion that targeted a checkpoint near the airport in the capital, Mogadishu.

“I saw four people dead at the scene. Two of them were government soldiers who died immediately ater the atack,” said police officer Ali Hassan.

A number of wounded people were taken away in an ambulance, according to witness Hamdi Nur. There were no details on the other casualties.

The blast happened as presidential candidates were heading into the heavily fortified airport area to address lawmakers ahead of Sunday’s vote for president.

Somalia’s Al Shabab claimed responsibility for the atack, which destroyed a number of small businesses along the street.

Al Shabab opposes Somalia’s federal government and frequently stages lethal atacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere in the Horn of Africa nation.

Somalia has registered a record 39 candidates for the presidential elections on May 15, a parliamentary commitee tasked with organising the long-delayed polls in the fragile Horn of Africa nation said on Tuesday.

The election is well over a year behind schedule, marred by deadly violence and a power struggle between President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, beter known as Farmajo, and Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble.

Lawmakers and senators will choose the next head of state inside Mogadishu’s heavilyguarded airport complex in the country batling a decade-long hardliner insurgency.

The candidates include two previous presidents, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (2012-2017) and Sharif Sheikh Ahmed (2009-2012) as well as former prime minister, Hassan Ali Khaire (2017-2020).

Puntland region president Said Abdullahi Dani and a former foreign minister who also served as deputy minister, Fawzia Yusuf Adan (2012-2014) are also among those who have registered their candidacy.

The winning candidate must secure the backing of two-thirds of the deputies and senators, which means a minimum of 184 votes.

The election will finally end the long political crisis around the vote, postponed multiple times.

Ater Farmajo’s term ended in February 2021 without a new vote taking place, he atempted to extend his rule by decree, triggering violent street batles in Mogadishu as rival factions clashed.

Following international pressure, he appointed Roble to seek consensus on a way forward. but the process progressed painfully slowly, stoking fears of further instability in the country.