Somalia-Army-Chief
Somalia army chief, Gen. Mohamed Adam Ahmed

Somalia’s new military chief, Gen. Mohammed Adam Ahmed , on Sunday  survived a suicide bomb attack that left at least thirteen people dead.

The attack which occurred moments after he was sworn in and mandated to launch a new offensive against Islamic extremists, took place near  Somalia’s defence ministry compound while he was in a convoy with other military officials.

According to a senior Somali police officer, Capt. Mohamed Husseini, five soldiers and eight civilians in a passing mini bus were killed in the attack.

The bombing, which Islamist extremist rebels, al-Shabaab has taken responsibility for, has given an explosive start to Ahmed’s tenure as chief of the Somali Army.

He was appointed on Thursday by President  Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed after an administrative shake up that saw him replace the country’s police chief and the Mayor of Mogadishu in a bid to improve the worsening security situation in the country.