By Nour Gelle Gedi and Afra Aksoy
MOGADISHU (AA): At least 13 people were killed and 10 others wounded in a suicide attack on the country’s new armed forces commander Sunday, according to officials.
Ahmed Nur Ahmed, a security official in the Daynille neighborhood in the capital Mogadishu, told Anadolu Agency that the attack near the Internal Security Ministry happened when new commander Mohamed Ahmed Jamali left a handover ceremony for his new duties in a convoy.
According to Ahmed, Jamali is in good condition.
On its website, the al-Shabaab terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack.
The attack comes one day after a military court in Somalia’s semi-autonomous northern region of Puntland executed five al-Shabaab terrorists convicted of militancy and murdering two Puntland senior officials.
Over a week ago, reassignments took place between senior officials of the Somalian army, including the commander of the armed forces, joint operations chief, and positions at the intelligence and police departments.
[Photo: Somalian security forces and people gather at a scene after a bomb attack targeting the Armed Forces Command near the Defense Ministry in Mogadishu, Somalia on April 9, 2017. Photographer: Muhabiri Sadak Mohamed/AA]