Rebuilding without a state, 1991 to 2012
The Hargeisa and Bosaso bombings of 29 October 2008
On the morning of 29 October 2008 suicide car bombers struck five targets at about the same time: the presidency, the UNDP compound and the Ethiopian consulate in Hargeisa, and two security offices in Bosaso. Reuters counted at least 28 dead, about 25 of them in Hargeisa, with at least 20 at the Ethiopian mission; other reports gave up to 30. No group claimed the attacks. One of the bombers was later identified as Shirwa Ahmed of Minneapolis, the first known American suicide bomber.
In short
The bombings of 29 October 2008 hit Somaliland and Puntland, where, Amnesty International noted, such attacks had been rare compared with south-central Somalia. This page records what the sources report. It is part of the history of al-Shabaab and of Somaliland security.
The attacks
At mid-morning on Wednesday 29 October 2008 three cars drove at the same time into compounds in Hargeisa housing the presidency (described by Amnesty International as President Dahir Riyale Kahin's private residence), the offices of the UN Development Programme, and the Ethiopian consulate, which suffered the worst damage and the most casualties. At the UNDP offices one vehicle forced its way through the security barrier after the guards refused to open the gate. Two attacks hit government security offices in Bosaso at about the same time (Amnesty International, public statement AFR 52/018/2008, 30 October 2008).
The dead
Reuters, reported by the Mail & Guardian, counted at least 28 dead: about 25 in Hargeisa, including 3 at the presidency, at least 20 at the Ethiopian mission and 2 at the UNDP building, and 3 in Bosaso, where two car bombs hit the intelligence service compound (Mail & Guardian, Reuters, 29 October 2008). The UN's humanitarian office confirmed that two of its national staff were killed and six injured (Amnesty International, 2008). Bari's governor, Muse Gelle, said of Bosaso: "The two cars and their drivers were blown to pieces" (Mail & Guardian, 2008).
Reactions and responsibility
No group claimed responsibility. Ethiopia's foreign minister, Seyoum Mesfin, said: "It is the work of the usual terrorists who try to create instability" (Mail & Guardian, 2008). Amnesty International condemned the attacks, called for prompt and impartial investigations, and noted that such attacks had been rare in Somaliland (Amnesty International, 2008). Wikipedia records that al-Shabaab was believed responsible and that the United States blamed al-Qaeda working through al-Shabaab (Wikipedia, 2008 Hargeisa–Bosaso bombings, citing the BBC and Reuters).
Shirwa Ahmed. One of the Hargeisa bombers was Shirwa Ahmed, who had grown up in Minneapolis. NBC News described him in 2011 as the first known American suicide bomber in Somalia, and reported that at least 20 Somali-Americans were believed to have joined al-Shabaab (NBC News, 2 June 2011).
Sources differ
- Deaths. At least 28 (Reuters), 30 (CNN, cited by Wikipedia) or 21 (NBC News, 2011); Puntland did not publish a figure for Bosaso (Amnesty International).
- Where Shirwa Ahmed died. Somaliland (NBC News); some reports place his attack in Puntland.
Read the primary sources yourself
Sources
- Amnesty International, public statement AFR 52/018/2008, 30 October 2008 · amnesty.org
- Mail & Guardian, Reuters, 29 October 2008 · mg.co.za
- Wikipedia, 2008 Hargeisa–Bosaso bombings · en.wikipedia.org
- NBC News, 2 June 2011 · nbcnews.com
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Where it happened
Same era
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- 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
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- The Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC), 2001–2004The SRRC, the Ethiopian-hosted alliance against Somalia's Arta government: its founding in 2001, its refusal to recognise the TNG, its fighting, and its part in the Kenya talks.
- The Burao conference and Somaliland's declaration, May 1991The Burao conference of 1991 and the declaration of the Republic of Somaliland: who attended, what was decided, the first government, and the first year after.
- The Transitional Federal Parliament, 2004–2012Somalia's Transitional Federal Parliament from 2004 to 2012: how members were chosen by clan, the first sessions in Nairobi and Baidoa, the 2009 expansion, the Kampala Accord and the handover.
- UNOSOM I, 1992–1993: the first UN operation in SomaliaUNOSOM I, April 1992 to March 1993: the Mogadishu ceasefire, the observers and the Pakistani battalion, the famine, the looting of aid, and the turn to UNITAF.
- The UN and US intervention, 1992–1995: UNOSOM and UNITAFUNOSOM I and II and the US-led UNITAF, 1992–1995: the famine, the missions, the 5 June and 3 October 1993 battles, the civilian toll, and the withdrawal.