Dahabo Omar (Aga Barur), an educated woman who earned a master’s certificate from a Ugandan university, died when her explosives jacket (vest) exploded during suicide bomb training. Officials told Somalia Report she was one of many al-Shabaab fighters who were undergoing explosives training at the house in El Abdi Dhere when the blast occurred.
Soon after the explosion, soldiers from the the pro-government Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamma (ASWJ) militia reached the scene and initiated security operations, arresting six men, according to a local witness.
“I heard a very loud explosion, but didn't know what happened. It was not something we are used to here. Immediately after the explosion all the villagers reached the scene, which was a house in the village, but nobody went in the compound fearing that another explosion might happen. Soon ASWJ soldiers arrived and asked what happened. Some of them went in and so did I. What I saw was horrific. There was blood everywhere in the room," Abdi Qasim, a local resident, told Somalia Report.
The head of the security of El Buur district of Galgadud region, Abdi Hassan, told Somalia Report what he witnessed.
“Immediately after the explosion our forces reached El Abdi Dhere, which is the place where the failed explosion occurred. We collected the pieces of the girl in order to bury them. Her trainer also lost his life in the blast. It is not good for someone to handle explosives which they don't have any knowledge about. Al-Shabaab brainwashes the youth, both boys and girls, and to make sure they persuade them to commit suicide. If it is the right thing to do, then why aren't their leaders doing it? It is simply because they are going to die which they don’t want at all," he said.
He added that Dahabo was from the Galgadud region and volunteered to carry out the suicide mission.
“There had been Land Rover vehicles full of petrol and prepared to take Dahabo on her suicide operation after the short training. The targeted area is not yet known, but we will double our efforts and try to curb their evil operations," said Mr. Hassan.
Reliable sources also added that ASJW executed the six men they arrested in conjunction with the failed bomb explosion. ASWJ claimed the men were Shabaab since they were unknown to the local community and near the incident at the time of the explosion. (Somalia Report could not verify these claims.)