The mayor of Somalia's capital Mogadishu has died of wounds sustained in a militant bombing attack on his office last week, the government said on Thursday.
Mayor Abdirahman Omar Osman died while doctors were treating his wounds at a hospital in Doha, a spokesman for the Somali president's office said.
Eleven people were killed and Osman was initially gravely wounded in the July 24 attack on a government building claimed by Al Shabab militants to have been targeting a UN envoy.
Al Shabab and officials said a rare female suicide bomber used in the attack had been aiming for the American who is the new United Nations envoy to Somalia. James Swan had left the office just minutes earlier.
Three local district commissioners were among the dead, police officer Ahmed Bashane told dpa news agency. Four other wounded officials were also airlifted to Qatar for treatment.
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.
Capt Mohamed Hussein, a senior police officer, said the female bomber walked into a security meeting and blew herself up a few yards away from the mayor. It was just the fourth time the Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabab had been known to use a female bomber in a suicide attack.
Al Shabab often targets government buildings such as the presidential palace and other high-profile parts of Mogadishu with bombings. The Somalia-based group was chased out of Mogadishu years ago but still controls parts of the Horn of Africa nation's south and central regions and is a frequent target of US airstrikes.
Security officials said last Wednesday's attack appeared to be a shift in tactics, as the extremists in the past had rarely managed to infiltrate heavily fortified government buildings without first detonating one or more vehicle bombs.
Mr Swan condemned "this heinous attack which not only demonstrates a violent disregard for the sanctity of human life, but also targets Somalis working to improve the lives of their fellow Somalis."
Osman had been a councillor in London before returning to Somalia to enter local politics.
