Somali general killed in jihadi car bomb attack

A Somali general and at least seven of his bodyguards were killed in a suicide attack in the capital, Mogadishu, on Sunday after their military convoy was rammed by a car bomb.

The Somali Islamist group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack, a claim confirmed by local authorities. The group frequently launches attacks on officials in the country's capital.

"There was a heavy blast caused by a car loaded with explosives alongside the industrial road," Abdiaziz Mohamed, a security official, said.

The murdered commander was identified as Major General Mohamed Jimale Rooble Jimale. He was also known by the name Goobaanle. Somalis often have a nickname that is used just as commonly as their proper name.

Somalia's Andalus radio, which is linked to al-Shabab, said "a mujahid (fighter) was martyred as his suicide car bomb killed General Goobaanle."

The day before, Somali government troops successfully took back Elwak, a town close to the Kenyan border, from heavily armed jihadists representing al-Shabab. This was just the latest in the long-standing conflict between government forcers and the insurgent Islamist group.

Attack launched during election build-up

The attack on the general was launched ahead of an upcoming election in which the Western-backed government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is seeking re-election. Al-Shabab once ruled much of Somalia, a country that has been devastated by two years of war and chaos.

Voting is due to start on September 25 and continue until October 10. Due to security concerns, voting will not be based on a one-person-one-vote system. Instead around 14,000 people representing the federal states will select members to sit on the legislative assembly.

While that is only a fraction of Somalia's 11 million people, it is more than the 135 elders that selected the outgoing parliament in 2012.

dm/sms (Reuters, dpa)