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Monday, May 5, 2014
Africa was a turbulent place over the weekend with two countries seeing bombings and one country seeing an assassination attempt. In the Somalia capital of Mogadishu at least six people were killed on May 3 when a bomb planted by Shabab insurgents exploded on a busy street. According to medical officials at least 25 people were wounded and one of the dead was a senior city official.
“The secretary general of the Banadir (Mogadishu) region, Abdikafi Hilowle, was targeted and he died,” Major Abdikadir Mohamed, a police officer told Reuters. “A remotely controlled bomb hidden in paper bags of rubbish destroyed his car.”
In Kenya at least three are confirmed dead from two separate bombings. Attackers threw an explosive device at passengers at a bus station and another attempt at the Reef Hotel in Mombasa.
“What happened is a grenade was thrown at passengers,” Nelson Marwa, Mombasa county commissioner told journalists. According to Marwa, the grenade came from attackers on a motorbike. More than 20 people were wounded.
At the Reef Hotel guards kept the bombers from gaining direct access, however they were able to throw a bag with an explosive device into the hotel’s compound. The device tore the roof off of one building and part of one wall collapsed.
While no group has claimed responsibility for this latest attack in Kenya, it is reminiscent of previous attacks made by Shabab in Kenya.
In Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi a security official survived an assassination attempt by members of an Islamist militia. Abdullah al-Saiti, commander of the city’s security operations center, was attacked by gunman while he was travelling in central Benghazi. Saiti escaped unhurt.
While no attack was made in Nigeria, the US did warn its citizens of a plan to attack one of two Sheraton hotels near Lagos. A statement on the State Department website said that those behind the plan were “groups associated with terrorism,” but gave no further details.
“As of late April, groups associated with terrorism allegedly planned to mount an unspecified attack against the Sheraton Hotel in Nigeria, near the city of Lagos,” the State Department said late on May 2. “There was no further information regarding which of the two Sheraton Hotels in Lagos was the possible target … There is no further information regarding the timing or method of attack.”
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