Somali security chiefs sacked after al-Shabab attack
BY BBC
Somalia’s police and intelligence chiefs have been sacked following militant Islamist group al-Shabab’s assault on the presidential palace, a government minister has said.
Three of the attackers were killed and a fourth captured, the presidency said.
Al-Shabab entered the compound on Tuesday before being driven out by African Union and government forces.
This was the second assault on the heavily fortified compound this year.
The police and intelligence heads -Abdihakim Saaid and Bashir Gobe respectively – had been replaced with immediate effect, said Information Minister Mustafa Dhuhulow.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was not at the palace at the time of the attack.
Al-Shabab said 14 government soldiers had been killed in the assault.
Some 22,000 African Union troops are helping the UN-backed government battle al-Shabab, which wants to create an Islamic state.
Al-Shabab lost control of Mogadishu in 2011, but often carries out attacks in the city.
The group has vowed to step up attacks during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
On Saturday, a suicide car bomb exploded near the capital’s parliament building, killing at least four people.
