At least 20 people died, and 36 others wounded in central Somali town after three car bombs exploded.
On Monday October 3, two of the bombs came off at around 10:30 in the morning and the other one in the afternoon.
According to statements by residents of Beledweyne, the bombings were targeting the Lama-Galaay military base which houses the deputy of Hirshabelle state and Hiran Governor offices.
Among the twenty that lost their lives were the deputy governor of the Hiran region Abukar Sheikh Madey and the region’s health minister Zakariye Mohamed Ahmed.
The al-Shabaab militant group claimed responsibility for the attack on Beledweyne.
Monday’s explosions came hours after the Somali government reported that a senior al-Shabaab official was killed in an operation in Haramka area in Middle Juba region on October 1.
The Somali ministry of information in their statement confirmed the senior al-Shabaab leader killed was Abdullahi Nadir who was the group’s co-founder.
The operations that killed Nadir happened on Saturday October 1.
“His death is a thorn removed from the Somali nation, “The government is grateful to the Somali people and international friends whose cooperation facilitated the killing of this leader who was an enemy of the Somali nation.” the statement said.
Somalia Defense Minister Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur hailed the reported killing of Abdullahi Nadir. He hinted that the reported killing of Nadir may have been in retaliation for those killed by al-Shabab.
The United States had offered $3 million for information leading to the capture or death of Nadir.
Nadir was a close ally of the late al-Shabaab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane who was killed in a U.S. strike in September 2014.
The Beledweyne community, led by the Hiran Governor mobilized each other against the Al-Shabaab and fought alongside the Somali government forces and seized dozens of villages from the militant group.