February 2022 Beledweyne bombing

The Islamist militant group al-Shabaab – the Somali branch of al-Qaeda – began their insurgency during the 2006–2009 phase of the Somali Civil War. ^[4]They took part in battles in Beledweyne, Hiran, Hirshabelle State in 2008, 2010 and 2011^[5]. In 2009, they carried out a suicide car bombing at a hotel there, killing 57 people^[6]. In 2013, they carried out suicide attacks there at a restaurant and a police station.^[7]

During the morning of 19 February, 2022, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb in a restaurant in Beledweyene.^[1][2] It killed 14 people – including a candidate in the same month's election – and injured at least another 12.^[1][2] On the same day, al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.^[1][2]

On 23 March 2022, two more suicide bombings killed over 30 people. The first one killed Amina Mohamed Abdi and many of her bodyguards, while the second was a car bombing against a hospital in Beledweyne.^[8][9]

• Mogadishu bombing