MOGADISHU: Somalia’s government fired the head of its police force and its military chief on Sunday, two days after a suicide bomber killed three ministers and several others in the capital of the lawless Horn of Africa nation. A fourth minister died from his wounds sustained in that attack on Sunday.
Ministers had been debating for several weeks about replacing the two men to bolster security before a government spokesman announced the sacking of police commander Abdi Hassan Awale and military commander Yusuf Hussein.
“Ali Mohamed Hassan, a former ambassador, was appointed police commander while Mohamed Gelle Kahiye, a senior military colonel, was appointed Somali military commander,” Abdi Haji Gobdon said.
Hassan was sacked in 2007 and replaced by Awale. Hussein had been at his post for close to a year.
Neighboring Kenya has stepped up police patrols in Eastleigh, a Nairobi suburb, which is predominantly inhabited by ethnic Somalis, residents said. Thursday’s hotel bombing in Mogadishu heightened concerns about Somalia’s ability to destabilize the region.
“Police have arrested more than 80 people in the last two days, Somalis and non-Somalis. They are arresting everyone who does not have immigration papers,” Hussein Mohamed, deputy head of Eastleigh Business Association, said. “There are fears that fighters from Somalia may infiltrate the area and attack Nairobi.”
Somalia’s UN-backed government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed is battling an insurgency by two rebel groups seeking to enforce their rule.
At least 10 people died and a dozen others were injured in the early hours of Sunday after the country’s main rebel group, Al-Shabab, attacked Basra, a town to the north of the capital.
Residents said Al-Shabab attacked early in the morning with dozens of heavily armed vehicles and engaged scores of armed Ahlu Sunna men in a fight with machine guns and rocket propelled-grenades. Ahlu Sunna is linked to President Ahmed’s administration.
