Saturday April 19, 2025
Mogadishu (HOL) — Several mortar shells struck multiple neighborhoods in Mogadishu on Sunday, including Hamarweyne, Hamar Jajab, and Shibis districts, as Somalia’s electoral commission continues its voter registration drive across the capital.
Preliminary reports indicate that at least one person was killed and three others injured—most of them civilians—after the shells landed near the Somali Presidential Palace and other densely populated areas.
No group has officially claimed responsibility, but the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al-Shabaab, which has previously launched similar attacks, is widely suspected. Al-Shabaab is designated as a terrorist organization by the Somali government, the United States, the United Nations, the European Union, and the African Union.
The group recently claimed responsibility for mortar attacks near the presidential compound and Halane Camp, close to Aden Adde International Airport.
Somali security agencies have not yet issued an official statement regarding the latest attack.
The incident comes amid heightened security operations in Mogadishu as the National Independent Electoral Commission (NIEC) expands voter registration to nine districts, including the newly added Shibis, Hamarweyne, and Bondhere. The registration effort, which began last week in Shangani district, marks Somalia’s first attempt at universal suffrage in over five decades.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has vowed to abolish the 4.5 clan-based power-sharing model and implement a one-person, one-vote electoral system, with parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for 2026.