Abdirahman Omar Osman "Yarisow" (Cabdiraxmaan Cumar Cismaan Yariisow)

Who was he?

Abdirahman Omar Osman, known as Engineer Yarisow, was Mayor of Mogadishu and Governor of Banadir (Wikipedia, Abdirahman Omar Osman). He was born on 16 August 1965 in Hodan district, Mogadishu, and died on 1 August 2019 (same source).

Study and life in London

He earned a BSc in civil engineering at the Somali National University (Yarisow CV, Ministry of Information, March 2017). He left during the civil war in 1991 and arrived in London as a refugee (BBC News, August 2019). He took a master's degree at the University of Westminster in 2004 (CV, same source). He served as a Labour Party councillor in London (Reuters, 25 July 2019). In 2006 he became a corporate member of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CV). He returned to Somalia in 2008 (BBC News, same source). See Somalis in London.

Mayor of Mogadishu

President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed "Farmaajo" named him after removing Thabit Abdi Mohamed (Wikipedia). World Statesmen gives 21 January 2018 as the start of his term.

The attacks of July 2019

On 22 July 2019 a car bomb at a checkpoint on the airport road killed at least 17 people (Reuters, 22 July 2019). On 24 July 2019 a woman suicide bomber blew herself up inside his office, killing six officials (BBC News, 24 July 2019). The BBC reported that the US envoy James Swan, who had met the mayor earlier that day, was the target (same source). The mayor was badly wounded, flown to Doha, Qatar, and died there on 1 August 2019 (BBC News, 1 August 2019; New York Times, 1 August 2019). Al-Shabaab claimed the attack (The Guardian, 1 August 2019).

After his death

Omar Mohamud Mohamed "Finnish" followed him as mayor on 22 August 2019 (Reuters, 22 August 2019). Keydmedia reported in July 2021 that Ikran Tahlil Farah, a former employee of his who went missing in June 2021, may have held information about the attack (Keydmedia, 13 July 2021).

In short

A refugee engineer who became a London councillor, then Mayor of Mogadishu, and died after the July 2019 attack on his office. See Mayors of Mogadishu.