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On July 5, 2022, the Shahada News Agency, the official news outlet of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab) reported that one of its security detachments detonated two IEDs against the Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the capital, Mogadishu. According to the report, at least three security guards at the facility were killed in the ensuing blasts. At the same time, the report claims, another Al-Shabab security detachment detonated two additional IEDs on a group of Somali forces in another part of the capital, wounding one soldier.[1]
It should be noted that on the following day, July 6, Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for another high-profile attack against a commander in the Somali military, when its operatives assassinated "the commander of the Somali Armed Forces in the city of Afgoye," about 30 km southwest of Mogadishu.[2]
At the beginning of July 2022, Al-Shabab ambushed a joint convoy of U.S. and Somali Special Forces north of Mogadishu,[3] and in recent months it has claimed responsibility for a series of operations perpetrated against regime targets in the capital.[4]
[1] Twitter, July 5, 2022.
[2] Twitter, July 6, 2022.
[3] See MEMRI JTTM Report: Al-Shabab Claims Ambush Of Convoy Of U.S. And Somali Special Forces North Of Mogadishu, July 3, 2022.
[4] See for example MEMRI JTTM Reports: Al-Shabab Escalates Attacks In Somalia Ahead Of Parliamentary Vote To Elect President, Claims "Martyrdom Operation" Targeting Ceremony For Presidential Candidates, May 12, 2022; On Somalia's Presidential Election Day, Al-Shabab Claims Series Of Attacks Including On Members Of Parliament, May 16, 2022; and Al-Qaeda Affiliate Al-Shabab Claims Killing Or Wounding Dozens, Including Senior Police And Army Officials, In Bombing At Mogadishu Restaurant, April 24, 2022.
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