Al-Shabaab mounted one of its deadliest attacks last week, targeting elections at the regional presidential palace in Beledweyne town. Forty-eight people were killed and more than 100 others were wounded.
Among the dead was a firebrand woman member of parliament, Amina Mohamed, who was on the campaign trail when she was targeted and killed by a suicide bomber.
Hours earlier, two Al Shabaab militants breached the heavily guarded compound at Mogadishu’s airport, where presidential elections are scheduled to take place.