Al-Shabaab ambushes Somalia president convoy

MOGADISHU

Somalia’s al-Shabaab militants ambushed an armored convoy carrying the country’s president during a rare overland trip outside the capital on May 29, ahead of the Istanbul Conference on Somalia which is scheduled to start today.

President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed was unharmed in the attack which occurred on the outskirts of Elasha town, located between Mogadishu and the former militant stronghold of Afgoye, about 30 kilometers northwest of the city. “The fighting split the convoy.

Vehicles scattered in different directions,” a Reuters photographer travelling with the convoy said. Bullets struck several African Union (AU) peacekeeper vehicles but none were damaged.

The firefight lasted about 30 minutes and forced the AU to fire shells to subdue the attack, he said, adding that the armored vehicle carrying Ahmed sped off as fighting broke out.