Somali government delegation visits town attacked by Al-Shabaab

Somali government officials have on Saturday visited the town of Buuloburde in central Hiiraan province following Al-Shabaab attack on the town on Oct. 19, state-run media SONNA news reported.

According to SONNA, the delegation was made up of federal ministers including internal affairs, planning, and state minister for defense ministry, parliamentarians and the HirShabelle state’s interior minister.

“The purpose of the visit is to evaluate the situation (in the town) including the bridge partially destroyed by the terrorists alongside other stabilisation programs,” the Internal Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

During their stay in the town, the delegation will meet with the country’s security forces, representatives of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), as well as local officials and community representatives.

On Oct. 19, two separate Al-Shabaab blasts in the towns of Buuloburde and Jalalaqsi, both in central Hiiraan region, killed at least 21 people.

The explosions, according to local officials, were intended to destroy key bridges in the town causing the partial damaging of Buuloburde town bridge.