Somalia says Mogadishu mayor dies after attack in office

Somalia’s government says the mayor of Mogadishu has died after being badly wounded in an al-Shabab extremist attack in his office last week.

The spokesman for Somalia’s president says Abdirahman Omar Osman died Thursday in Qatar, where he had been airlifted for treatment after the July 24 attack.

The Somalia-based al-Shabab and officials have said a rare female suicide bomber used in the attack had been aiming for an American who is the new United Nations envoy to Somalia. James Swan had left the office just minutes earlier.

It was not clear how the bomber managed to enter the mayor’s office, as visitors are required to pass through at least four metal detectors.

Osman had been a councilor in London before returning to Somalia to enter local politics.

— AP