The mayor of Somalia capital Mogadishu died of wounds sustained in a suicide bomb attack on his office, government officials said. He died in Qatar where he went for treatment after the attack.
Abdirahman Omar Osman was a naturalised Briton who returned to Somalia to help rebuild the war-torn country after serving as a councillor for the Labour party.
He sustained serious injuries when a suicide bomber from al Shabaab struck during a meeting at municipal government headquarters last week, killing six senior local government officials.
Officials said the mayor was airlifted to Qatar for treatment with nine others.
“The Mogadishu mayor died today in Qatar. May Allah rest his soul. The other injured are still being treated in Qatar,” Saleh Omar Hassan, spokesman for Mogadishu local government, told Reuters.
President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed declared three days of mourning for the mayor, ordering flags be flown at half-mast.
Al Qaeda-linked Islamist group al Shabaab, which aims to topple Somalia’s UN-backed government, carries out attacks against government and civilian targets.
Osman previously served as Somalia’s information minister, a post he was appointed to in 2010. He became mayor of Mogadishu last year.
