Islow pressured to resign after Mogadishu attacks

Internal security minister Mohamed Islow Friday came under intense pressure from a section of Somalis who called for his resignation amid a deadly terrorist attack that rocked the capital Mogadishu killing at least 30 people.

Under the hashtag #IslowMustResign, Somalis in the social media said the Minister had failed to execute the mandate of his office in light of continued attacks in the city and other parts of the country. Somalis took to Twitter and Facebook castigating the minister even as security forces battled to bring down the last Al-Shabaab fighter who had been holed up in one of the buildings along Maka al Mukarama Street.

 

The U.S trained Special Forces dubbed the Alpha group brought the operation to a conclusion Friday after nailing down the last Al-Shabaab militant in the besieged building. The operation lasted for about 22 hours after the first bomb explosion Thursday evening.

The attack was the second major one in barely a month. The militants detonated a car bomb near the national theatre in Mogadishu February 4 killing at least ten people.

Some of the reactions Friday urged Prime Minister Hassan Khaire to fire the security minister even as others heaped blame on the whole government.

The Security Minister has not yet publicly spoken about the attack nor has there been any official information regarding the casualties in the twin attacks.

A spot check by Goobjoog News correspondents Friday afternoon indicated that 102 people were injured and received in three hospitals within the city. The hospitals; Digfer and Madina and recorded 14 deaths. There were no deaths recorded at Shafici hospital but it received the injured.