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The bomb attack on the president's convoy in Mogadishu, 18 March 2025
On Tuesday 18 March 2025 a bomb exploded near the presidential palace in Mogadishu as President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's convoy left for the airport on its way to the front line in Middle Shabelle. The president was unhurt. Al-Shabaab said its fighters had targeted the convoy. A Reuters journalist saw four bodies at the scene; later counts were higher. Among the dead was the journalist Mohamed Abukar Dabashe, and police briefly held more than 20 journalists after the attack.
In short
On 18 March 2025, during al-Shabaab's counter-offensive in Middle Shabelle, a bomb exploded beside the convoy of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Mogadishu. This page records the attack as the sources report it. The fighting around it is covered in The offensive against al-Shabaab, 2022 to 2025.
The attack
The Associated Press reported that a roadside bomb went off near the presidential palace on Tuesday 18 March, right after the president was driven out of the palace grounds in a convoy heading to the main airport. He was going to Middle Shabelle to oversee military operations against al-Shabaab, and was unharmed. The Information Ministry called the bombing a "cowardly act of desperation" (The Week, PTI/AP, 19 March 2025). The Media Line placed the blast in Hamar-Jajab district and said the device had been planted in a roadside building (The Media Line, 19 March 2025).
Al-Shabaab said in a statement on its Telegram channel: "Our fighters targeted a convoy of vehicles carrying Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as they were leaving the presidential palace." Reuters reported that hours later state media showed the president in Adan Yabaal district, in Middle Shabelle, and that it was the first attack to target him directly since 2014, during his first term (Reuters, via Yahoo News, 18 March 2025).
The dead and the journalists
A Reuters journalist saw the bodies of four people near the palace (Reuters, 2025). Witnesses quoted by the Associated Press counted two or three (The Week, 2025). Wikipedia, drawing on later reports, gives at least 10 dead, seven of them security personnel, and 20 injured (Wikipedia, Attempted assassination of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud).
The Committee to Protect Journalists reported that the journalist Mohamed Abukar Dabashe was killed; his body was found in a collapsed building near the site. It said armed police raided the offices of Risaala Media Corporation about 20 minutes after it broadcast footage of the scene, ordered its channels off air and held its reporters for about two hours, and that at least 17 other journalists were briefly detained at the site. A police spokesperson told the organisation that no arrests had been made and that officers were verifying journalists' identities (CPJ, March 2025).
Reactions
The African Union Commission chairperson, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, called the bombing a "desperate attempt" by al-Shabaab to undermine Somalia's leadership (The Media Line, 2025). The British Embassy in Mogadishu said: "The UK remains a steadfast partner of the Somali government" (The Week, 2025).
Sources differ
- Deaths. Four bodies seen by Reuters; two or three counted by witnesses (AP); at least 10 in Wikipedia's later total.
- Journalists detained. At least 22 in CPJ's count; the police said no arrests were made (CPJ).
Read the primary sources yourself
Sources
- The Week, PTI/AP, 19 March 2025 · theweek.in
- The Media Line, 19 March 2025 · themedialine.org
- Reuters, via Yahoo News, 18 March 2025 · yahoo.com
- Wikipedia, Attempted assassination of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud · en.wikipedia.org
- CPJ, March 2025 · cpj.org
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Where it happened
- Muqdisho (Mogadishu) and BanaadirMogadishu (Muqdisho) is Somalia's capital and makes up the Banadir region, with about 2.97 million people in 20 districts.
- Jowhar (Johar) and Middle ShabelleMiddle Shabelle is the farming region along the Shabelle river north of Mogadishu, with Jowhar as its capital and about 1 to 1.26 million people.
Same era
- Australia18,401 people of Somali ancestry and 8,101 born in Somalia lived in Australia at the 2021 Census, more than half in Victoria. History, work, issues.
- Birmingham (Somali diaspora)About 17,000 to 21,600 Somalis live in Birmingham (Census 2021), mostly in Nechells, Newtown, Small Heath and Alum Rock. History, work, health and ties home.
- Bristol (Somali diaspora)9,167 people in Bristol identified as Somali or Somalilander in Census 2021, the city's largest minority group. Where they live, work, housing, leaders and ties home.
- Calgary, Alberta, Canada2,845 people of Somali origin lived in Calgary at the 2021 Census, plus 890 in Brooks. How they came, who serves them and what they face.
- Denmark (Somali diaspora)21,885 people of Somali origin lived in Denmark in 2026, half born there. Numbers, history, work, permit reviews, and ties home.
- DjiboutiAbout 13,900 refugees from Somalia live in Djibouti (Aug 2026): numbers since 1990, Ali Addeh, Holl-Holl, the 2017 refugee law, Arta 2000 and 2025 returns.
Keep reading
- The 2012 Somali presidential electionThe 2012 presidential election: the end of the transition, the 275 MPs chosen by elders, the vote of 10 September, bribery claims, and the new government.
- The 2016 Somali parliamentary electionSomalia's 2016 indirect parliamentary election: the elders and electoral colleges, the new Upper House, the 4.5 formula, malpractice and re-runs, women's seats, and the result.
- The 2017 Somali presidential electionThe 2016–2017 election: delegates and the new two-house Parliament, the vote of 8 February 2017 at the airport, Farmaajo's win, bribery claims and the cost.
- The 2017 Somaliland presidential electionSomaliland's 2017 presidential vote: the delays, the iris-scan register, the three candidates, results, the social media ban, the Burao shootings and the dispute.
- The 2021 Somaliland parliamentary and local electionsSomaliland's joint parliamentary and local council elections of 31 May 2021: the delay since 2005, the results, the opposition majority, women, and what observers found.
- The war in Somalia, 2009 to nowThe war since 2009: al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam against the government and AU troops, the 2011 Mogadishu withdrawal and famine, Kismayo, the 2022 offensive and 2025.