Puntland security forces intensified search operations in the Gulf of Aden port city of Bossaso, arresting over a dozen suspects and launching strenuous manhunt, Garowe Online reports. The move has come after five militants in mini-van overnight on Tuesday attacked bodyguards manning a security checkpoint near Panaroma hotel that houses high ranking government officials including Deputy Police Commander-in-Chief Gen. Mohayadin Ahmed Musse. Armed with hand grenades and AK-47 rifles, the five terrorists killed a soldier and wounded three others in brief gun battle according to officials. Four of the five Al Shabaab gunmen immediately sped-off in Toyota Noah, leaving heavily armed militant behind, Gen. Musse told Garowe Online. However, security forces are said to later have shot and killed the gunman who refused to give himself in in Raf and Raho neighborhood.
The right hand drive vehicle carrying the fleeing militants suddenly overturned on 30th street which stretches from water wells to Qoyan neighborhood, killing an assailant and wounding two others while a man identified as Mohamud Rashid Ali escaped unharmed. Speaking to reporters in Bossaso, Puntland Police commander, Gen. Mohamed Saed Jaqanaf disclosed that the militants disguised themselves, and carried out the pre-planned attack on security checkpoint approximately at 8:10 PM in the evening. “We killed Al Shabaab militiaman in shootout after he tried to escape,” said Jaqanaf, adding that the police seized four vehicles and nearly ten people suspected of being responsible for the simmering terror attacks on military targets and key figures. The captured militant who escaped unhurt from the car accident on the newly constructed road, Ali told the media that one of the wounded led the team of five during the operation. “I crossed Galkayo into Bossaso and I came from southeast Somalia. Firstly, I started working as a waiter at a restaurant in Bossaso, I had been living here for many years,” unveiled the attacker.”Al Shabaab official in southern Somalia ordered us to launch raids on checkpoints over the phone” Continuing, the militant revealed: “I joined Al Shabaab in 2013, I fought alongside Al Shabaab once while in southern Somalia.Whenever I carry out attack, I used to receive money from Al Shabaab officials and pledges of around $1000 are made for attackers”.
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Earlier, a report on the checkpoint attack ran as:
Gunmen firing machine guns and rocket propelled grenades attacked a military checkpoint in the Puntland’s commercial hub town of Bossaso on Saturday night, killing one soldier and wounding two others, Garowe Online reports.
The attack, the latest in Puntland which faces a stubborn Al-Shabab insurgency raises security concerns in a region known for stability during the two decades of war in Somalia.
Details of the attack near Panorama hotel remain sketchy, as soldiers are still battling the assailants in the area. The attack, the second in the town since last week comes at a time militants fighting Puntland forces have stepped up attacks in the region.
Suspected militants have also attacked a Police station in the region last week, killing one soldier.
Garowe Online will keep you posted for any further details about the attack
