Twin suicide bombers shot dead in Mogadishu

Two suicide bombers were shot dead and one police officer wounded when police foiled a suicide attack targeting the venue of Somalia’s National Constituent Assembly meeting in Mogadishu on Wednesday.

Thursday, August 02, 2012

Two suicide bombers were shot dead and one police officer wounded when police foiled a suicide attack targeting the venue of Somalia’s National Constituent Assembly meeting in Mogadishu on Wednesday."The two men who tried to force their way into a checkpoint at the entrance of the venue were shot and the incoming bullets detonated their explosives, one police officer was wounded in the blast,” police officer Mohyadeen Farah told Xinhua.The two men who were unable to get inside the meeting area used false identification papers to try  accessing the venue where 645 delegates were meeting to vote on the constitution, police say.Somali government officials say the attacks have been foiled and the meeting will continue, adding that the vote on the new draft constitution for the country will be held as planned.Security has been further tightened and reinforcements were brought into the venue to vet participants of the national constitutional convention in Mogadishu.The Somalia’s National Constituent Assembly is the first step of a plan to move Somalia out of the long transitional period into a more stable form of government.A new parliament will be selected by 135 Somali traditional elders tasked to choose the 275-member legislature as the volatile country cannot hold elections because the current government’s authority has not reached many parts of Somalia controlled by radical Al-Shabaab group.The militant Al-Shabaab movement which has links with al Qaida vowed to disrupt the constitutional assembly in Mogadishu but the insurgent group known for carrying out similar attacks before, has not so far commented on the latest attack.  Xinhua