{"id":366539,"date":"2017-10-29T18:00:36","date_gmt":"2017-10-29T18:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=366539"},"modified":"2017-10-29T18:00:36","modified_gmt":"2017-10-29T18:00:36","slug":"top-somali-officials-fired-over-deadly-blasts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/10\/top-somali-officials-fired-over-deadly-blasts\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Somali officials fired over deadly blasts"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Somali government has fired two top security officials after\u00a0twin blasts and a siege left at least 27 people dead on Saturday.<\/p>\n
They came just two weeks after at least 358 people died in another attack, one of the deadliest ever to hit Mogadishu.<\/p>\n
Police chief Abdihakin Dahir Saiid and the director of national intelligence, Abdillahi Mohamed Sanbaloosh, were both removed from office on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The decision came after an emergency cabinet meeting, Somali officials say.<\/p>\n
The Islamist militant group al-Shabab says it carried out Saturday’s bombings.<\/p>\n
Police say three militants were captured alive and two others blew themselves up during the attack.<\/p>\n
The siege started on Saturday afternoon after a car bomb was driven into the Nasahablod Two hotel. A few minutes later, a second car bomb targeted the former parliament house nearby.<\/p>\n
Sporadic gunfire continued inside the hotel throughout the night, witnesses said. Police said the siege lasted almost 12 hours.<\/p>\n