MOGADISHU: Al-Shabab militants fired multiple mortar rounds near Mogadishu’s airport on Sunday morning, disrupting international flights to Somalia, a security official told AFP.
The attack comes just weeks after a roadside bomb blast narrowly missed the convoy of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, with Al-Shabab claiming responsibility.
According to security sources, the mortars were launched from the outskirts of Mogadishu and landed in an open area of Aden Adde International Airport.
“There were about two to three mortar shells that struck an open area of the airport early this morning,” a security official, who requested anonymity, told AFP.
A Turkish plane scheduled to land at the airport was rerouted to Djibouti, an airport employee said, also speaking on condition of anonymity. He added that they were informed EgyptAir had also canceled its flight for the day.
Halane camp — a heavily fortified compound that houses the United Nations, aid agencies, foreign missions, and the headquarters of the UN-backed African Union Transition Mission (ATMIS) — was also targeted, according to ATMIS spokesman Lt. Col. Said Mwachinalo.
“There has been shelling. Our team is currently on the ground making assessment,” Mwachinalo told AFP.
No casualties have been reported so far and some operations at the airport seems to be ongoing, the security official said.
The government is yet to comment on the attack.
Al-Shabab has been fighting the federal government in Somalia for over 15 years and analysts say it has become an increasing threat in recent months.
The latest attacks have raised fears of a resurgence of the jihadist militia, potentially reversing gains made by the Somali government and its international partners over the years, analysts say.
Al-Shabab launches mortar attacks near Somalia’s main airport
https://arab.news/gkpa8
Al-Shabab launches mortar attacks near Somalia’s main airport
Germany plays down threat of US invading Greenland after talks
WASHINGTON: Germany’s top diplomat on Monday played down the risk of a US attack on Greenland, after President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to seize the island from NATO ally Denmark.
Asked after meeting Secretary of State Marco Rubio about a unilateral military move by Trump, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said: “I have no indication that this is being seriously considered.”
“Rather, I believe there is a common interest in addressing the security issues that arise in the Arctic region, and that we should and will do so,” he told reporters.
“NATO is only now in the process of developing more concrete plans on this, and these will then be discussed jointly with our US partners.”
Wadephul’s visit comes ahead of talks this week in Washington between Rubio and the top diplomats of Denmark and Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark.
Trump in recent days has vowed that the United States will take Greenland “one way or the other” and said he can do it “the nice way or the more difficult way.”
Greenland’s government on Monday repeated that it would not accept a US takeover under “any circumstance.”
Greenland and NATO also said Monday that they were working on bolstering defense of the Arctic territory, a key concern cited by Trump.
Trump has repeatedly pointed to growing Arctic activity by Russia and China as a reason why the United States needs to take over Greenland.
But he has also spoken more broadly of his desire to expand the land mass controlled by the United States.
