The National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) of Somalia has warned that the Al-Shabaab militant group is targeting President Mohamed Farmaajo and Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble.
In a tweet on Tuesday, April 5, 2022, NISA named Mohamed Mahir, a senior Al-Shabaab member as the key mastermind of the plan.
“We have briefed the Heads of State on the threat posed by the AS Mafia to the President and the Prime Minister. Mohamed Mahir, a senior AS member of the AS, coordinated the plan. We are monitoring everyone involved,” the agency said.
President Farmaajo, extended his mandate by two years in April 2021 after his term expired with no agreement on how to replace him.
The President has been at loggerheads with the Prime Minister, with the latter accusing the former of an “attempted coup” by extending his term in office.
Already, the Prime Minister has previously alleged that he received life threats from people who killed opposition MP Aamina Mohamed. The MP was killed in an explosion in March that killed at least 47 people and injured 105 others.
Speaking during the burial of the MP, Roble said that he received the threats after endorsing the sacking of a regional election committee.
The reports by NISA come hours after Roble fired two election committee members he accused of disrupting completion of the election process; and after Southwest State announced suspending cooperation with the PM on election matters.
Al-Shabab has been intensifying attacks targeting politicians contesting Somalia’s elections, which are already more than a year overdue.
Al-Shabab insurgents, who are linked to al-Qaeda, seek to establish an Islamic state in Somalia.
The increased attacks come at a time the AU-led AMISOM military mission expired on March 31, 2022, which was replaced by a transitional AU mission, known as ATMIS, on April 1, 2022.
