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UN envoy in Somalia condemns attack on Jubba administration leader

Special Representative for Somalia Nicholas Kay.
AU/UN/IST/Ilyas Abukar
Special Representative for Somalia Nicholas Kay.

UN envoy in Somalia condemns attack on Jubba administration leader

The top UN official in Somalia today strongly condemned the violent attack on a vehicle in which Ahmad Muhammad Islam Madobe, leader of the interim Jubba administration was in the port city of Kismayo.

According to a statement released by a spokesperson for Nicholas Kay, head of the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), Ahmad Muhammad Islam is reported to have escaped serious injury however his bodyguards and innocent civilians were killed when his car was hit by another vehicle carrying explosives in the port city of Kismayo, southern Somalia.

“Ahmad Madobe is a key partner in the search for peace and reconciliation in Somalia. It is reprehensible that he would become a target for extremist violence at a time when he is playing a key role in state building and peacebuilding,” Mr. Kay said in the statement.

“He expressed his sincere condolences to those who lost loved ones and wished all those injured in the attack quick recovery,” the statement added.

Mr. Kay is in New York today for a scheduled briefing to the Security Council on the situation in Somalia.