AMISOM troops suffered a major blow on Wednesday following a deadly explosion that claimed five lives near presidential palace in Mogadishu, it has been confirmed.
Information Minister Mohamed Abdi Hayr told a press conference that also former foreign minister Hussein Elabe Faahiye, who served under former premier Ali Mohamed Gedi in 2007, was among those killed.
"The security forces stopped... a vehicle loaded with explosives which was aiming to target a security forces base. We have confirmed five killed and 11 wounded in the blast," deputy police chief Zakia Hussein confirmed the explosion on Twitter as quoted by the Nation.
Kenya Defense Forces is among major contributors of troops to AMISOM. Kenya formally joined the AU peace keeping troops in 2012, a year after incursion in Somalia.
And the death of Major General Fatuma Ali Rageh alias Fay Ali was one of the worst losses for AMISOM in recent days. "She was described as a self-less, brave soldier who sacrificed a lot for peace. Her husband, also a soldier died in the same attack when VBIED explosion destroyed their vehicle," VOA journalist Harun Maruf said.
Fay Ali was involved in battles to push Al-Shabaab militants away from the Palace. She was involved in the offensive to retake Bakara market from Al-Shabaab. Also, was one of the officers that worked closely with AMISOM during the offensive in the capital in 2011.
Since then, Maruf said, General Fay Ali was deployed with different military brigades in the operations department. Most notably, she became Chief of Operations for the Special Forces Danab. She coordinated with AU forces. At onre point, AMISOM praised her and described her as a “true friend” of the Mission.
The brave female soldier had two of his previous husbands dying in Al-Shabaab instigated attacks. On Wednesday, his third husband also succumbed. She left behind nine children.
"She sacrificed as a mother of 9. Her 3rd husband, also a soldier was in the same vehicle, he died today. Her previous 2 husbands were also killed by Shabaab according to a person who knows the family," said Maruf, adding that she was respected among soldiers.
The attack came amid diminishing relationship between Kenya and Somalia over oil fields along Indian Ocean maritime border. Sources within Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nairobi indicated that Kenya is plotting withdrawal of KDF from already liberated towns within Somalia.