Monday September 15, 2014
One of Somalia top security officers was shot to death in that country's still violent capital city of Mogadishu on Saturday. The assassination was perpetrated by several gunmen during a drive-by-shooting, police said.The security officer, identified as 42-year-old Mohamed Qanuni, served as the deputy commander of the anti-terrorism unit which is part of Somalia's National Intelligence and Security Agency. Police claimed that witnesses described the assailants as they sped away after firing a barrage of bullets at the security vehicle.
Qanuni was recently appointed to the post in the elite unit that fights Al-Shabaab jihadists in Somalia, and it was Al-Shabaab Islamists who claimed responsibility for the killing of Commander Qanuni. This latest killing of a senior security officer is the second attack by the Al-Shabaab group since the death of their leader Ahmed Abdi Godane two weeks ago during a U.S. unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV0 -- also called a drone -- attack.
In July, Commander Qanuni's predecessor, Ibrahim Ahmed Farah, targeted for assassination in a similar drive-by-shooting by Al-Shabaab terrorists.
The group swore they would avenge their leader's death against the Somali government and the United States. The group also perpetrated a deadly suicide car bomb attacks on the headquarters of the African Union Mission in Somalia and against Somali government officials in Mogadishu this week, according to an Examiner news story.
On September 5, the U.S. Defense Department reported that Godane, the leader of Al-Shabaab, was killed as a result of a U.S. military targeted drone strike in Somalia. according to a statement released by the White House Press Office.
"Godane's removal is a major symbolic and operational loss to the largest al-Qaida affiliate in Africa and reflects years of painstaking work by U.S. intelligence, military and law enforcement professionals," the statement said.