January 2021 Somalia bombings

Last updated
January 2021 Somalia bombings
Part of Somali Civil War (2009-present)
Location Bal'ad, Dinsoor, and near Mogadishu, Somalia
DateJanuary 27, 2021
TargetFlag of Somalia.svg Somali National Army soldiers, civilians
Deaths18
  • 15 SNA soldiers
  • 2 civilians killed
  • 1 Burundian AMISOM peacekeeper killed
Injured7
  • 5+ in Dinsoor
  • 2 near Mogadishu
  • Unknown number injured in Bal'ad
PerpetratorAQMI Flag asymmetric.svg al-Shabaab

On January 27, 2021, al-Shabaab launched multiple attacks on civilian and military sites across Somalia, killing sixteen people and injuring several more. The deadliest attack was an ambush by al-Shabaab on a Somali and AMISOM convoy in Bal'ad, which killed 14 people.

Contents

Background

Al-Shabaab, a jihadist group that has waged an insurgency in Somalia since 2009, began an offensive against Somali National Army forces in Middle Shabelle on January 23. The fighting began with al-Shabaab's capture of the village of Rage-Ceele. Al-Shabaab then began deploying fighters around Somali-controlled cities including Jowhar and Bal'ad. [1]

Attacks

The attacks on January 27 were all coordinated by al-Shabaab. [2] The first attack began in Dinsoor, Bay region, at a restaurant while security forces and civilians were dining in the morning. [3] One soldier was killed in the attack and at least five others were wounded. [2] A roadside bomb also injured two construction workers near Mogadishu. [2] Near Bal'ad, a joint Somali and Burundian AMISOM convoy was bombed by al-Shabaab militants, killing an unknown number of people. [2] The bombing sparked clashes between the Somali-Burundian forces and al-Shabaab. [2] Somali reinforcements from Jowhar were also ambushed along the way to the bombing site. [2] Fifteen people were killed in the bombing at Bal'ad, including twelve Somali soldiers, two civilians, and one Burundian peacekeeper. [2] An unknown number of soldiers and peacekeepers were wounded and transported to a hospital in Jowhar. [2]

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On August 10, 2021, a patrol of Ugandan soldiers that formed part of the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) were ambushed and attacked in a farmland about 2½ kilometers from Golweyn by Al-Shabaab Islamic militants while on a routine patrol to secure the main supply route along the Beldamin-Golweyn Forward Operating Base in the Lower Shabelle.
This attack was followed by an exchange of gunfire between AMISOM forces and Al-Shabaab militants, that lasted several hours. "During the counterattack, 7 terrorists were killed while others sustained injuries and an assortment of weapons was recovered," AMISOM said in a tweet. Also one Ugandan soldier died. But afterwards, reports were received that the 7 deceased were not members of Al-Shabaab but civilians and that they had been killed by AMISOM forces, upon which the tweet was deleted. Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur, the Governor of Lower Shabelle confirmed after talking to local residents, that five farmers and two others whose vehicle broke down on the side of the road, were killed by the AMISOM soldiers after the ambush by al-Shabaab. District Commissioner Nur Osman Rage, detailed that after their encounter with Al-Shabaab, AMISOM forces "diverted to a nearby farm, picked an elderly farmer and four of his workers, blindfolded them and paraded them on the tarmac road. They then stopped two trucks on transit in the area, picked the two drivers, blindfolded them and together with the other five, took them to a point where an IED was planted, forced the civilians to sit on the device and detonated it on the seven victims who were blindfolded, instantly killing them.” The incident was allegedly witnessed firsthand by Somali security officers, local elders and many others in the area.

References

  1. Staff, Horseed (2021-01-23). "SOMALIA: Al-Shabaab launches military offensive in Middle Shabelle". Horseed Media. Retrieved 2024-07-06.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Somalia: 16 dead, several injured in 3 bomb blasts". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 2024-07-06.
  3. "Somalia: Explosion reported in Dinsoor Jan. 27". Somalia: Explosion reported in Dinsoor Jan. 27 | Crisis24. Retrieved 2024-07-06.