Somalia dismisses 1500 intelligence agents for 'incompetence'

Somalia's intelligence chief fired 1500 agents following a number of attacks from al-Shabaab in recent months.

1 min read

03 October, 2016

The news follows the most recent bombing in a string of attacks from al-Shabaab [AFP]

Somalia's new intelligence chief fired 1500 intelligence agents for incompetence on Sunday, following a string of attacks by the militant group al-Shabaab in the country's capital, Mogadishu.

Garowe Online reported that General Abdulahi Gafow Mohammad made the announcement after a suicide car bombing which killed three people in Mogadishu on Saturday.

Al-Shabaab recently announced it would increase its bombings in order to disrupt the country's elections at the end of November.

General Gafow was previously the director of the Somali immigration department and is now the country's fifth head of intelligence since president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud assumed power in September 2012.

Gafow's predecessor was fired following a suicide attack on the Ambassador Hotel in Mogadishu, killing 30 people.

Somalia's foreign minister, Abdisalam Omer told the United Nations on 24 September that Somalia had "militarily defeated the evil that is Al-Shabaab".