29 October 2017•Update: 30 October 2017
By Mohammed Dhaysane
MOGADISHU, Somalia
The Cabinet sacked the chiefs of national intelligence agency and police following Saturday’s deadly bomb blasts in capital Mogadishu that left at least 27 people dead and dozens of others wounded, according to a minister.
Saturday’s attack saw gunmen storming the Nasa-hablood hotel near the presidential palace after two car bomb explosions.
Al-Shabaab armed group had claimed responsibility for the attack that came just two weeks after the deadliest attack in the country’s history, also in Mogadishu, which left more than 358 people dead.
The Cabinet decided to sack National Intelligence Agency chief Cabdullahi Mohamed Sambaloshe and police chief Abdihakin Dahir Saed Sa'id after an emergency meeting in the capital, Information Minister Abdirahman Omar Osman Yarsisow tweeted.
"Somali government cabinet ministers sacked national intelligence and security agency chief and national police commander," Osman Yarsisow said in his Twitter post.
In a separate statement, Internal Security Minister Mohamed Abukar Islow said the death toll from Saturday’s double explosions had reached 27.
Earlier, local and state media reported that former lawmaker Abdinasir Garane, Southwestern State Interior Minister Madobe Nunow and former Daynile district police commissioner were among the dead.
Islow also said security forces had detained three suspected attackers.
Turkish Foreign Ministry had strongly condemned the terrorist attack, saying: “Turkey will continue to stand by the Somali people and its government in the fight against terrorism."
