Former Al-Shabaab deputy leader and spokesman Muktar Robow, who once had a $5-million US bounty on his head, will be Somalia's new religion minister. Photo: Hassan Ali ELMI / AFP/FileSource: AFPMortar shells struck residential neighbourhoods near the presidential palace in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Sunday shortly after parliament convened to approve the country's recently appointed cabinet, underlining the security challenges confronting the new government. On Sunday, as parliament met to approve Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre's 75-member cabinet, which includes a former Al-Shabaab deputy leader, several rounds of mortar shells landed near the presidential palace, according to a security official and a witness. "One of the mortar rounds struck in the midst of the Xararyaale intersection and another hit a hospital close by," Abdikadir Yare, a witness, said. Former Al-Shabaab deputy leader and spokesman Muktar Robow, who once had a $5-million US bounty on his head, will be the country's new religion minister.

Source: Daily Nation August 07, 2022 19:08 UTC