Abdirahman Omar Osman (also known as Abdirahman Yariisow and Engineer Yarisow; 16 August 1965 – 1 August 2019) was a Somali politician who was the Governor of

Banaadir Banaadir (, , ) is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in southeastern Somalia. It covers the same area as the city of Mogadishu, which serves as the capital. It is the only region in the country not belonging to any of the six states. It is b ...

and

Mayor of Mogadishu The Mayor of Mogadishu is head of the executive branch of Mogadishu, the Capital city, capital of Somalia. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces laws wit ...

. Abdirahman Omar Osman, also known as Eng. Yarisow, was involved in Somali politics for the last 12 years of his life. He served the Government of Somalia as a senior advisor, Minister of Information twice, Minister of Treasury, spokesperson of the government, Senior Media & Strategic Communications Advisor and Senior Advisor & Spokesperson of the Office of the President.

Early life

Abdirahman Omar Osman was born on 16 August 1965 in the district of Hodan, Mogadishu. Osman obtained a BSc in

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

from the

Somali National University Somali National University (SNU) (, , ) is a national university in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. Its campus grounds were located four kilometers from the Mogadishu International Airport (Aden Adde International Airport). It was establishe ...

before fleeing the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

in 1991 and arriving as a

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. There he received an

NVQ National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) are practical work-based awards in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland that are achieved through training and assessment. The regulatory framework supporting NVQs was withdrawn in 2015 and replaced by th ...

Level 2 in Business Administration and a

Certificate of Higher Education A Certificate of Higher Education (CertHE) is a higher education qualification in the United Kingdom. Overview The Certificate is awarded after one year of full-time study (or equivalent) at a university or other higher education institution, or ...

in computing at a college. He then earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

from the

University of Westminster The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...

in 2004, and served as a Labour Party councilor. He was granted corporate membership of the UK

Chartered Institute of Housing The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) is the professional body for those working in the housing profession in the United Kingdom. It has a royal charter, gained in 1984. Currently CIH has over 17,000 members, mostly in the UK but also overseas ...

in 2006. In 2008, he returned to Somalia to help rebuild the country after the war.

Mayor of Mogadishu

Osman was appointed Mayor of Mogadishu following the dismissal of the then Mayor, Thabit Abdi Mohammed, by President

Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (, ; born March 11, 1962), also known as Farmaajo, is a Somali politician who served as president of Somalia from 2017 to 2022. He was Prime Minister of Somalia, prime minister of Somalia for six months, from Novembe ...

on 21 Septembre 2017.

Death and international reactions

On 24 July 2019, a

female suicide bomber Female suicide bombers are women who undertake suicide attacks, wherein the bomber kills herself while simultaneously killing targeted people. Suicide bombers are normally viewed as male political radicals but since the 1960s female suicide attac ...

entered and blew herself up inside Osman's Mogadishu mayoral office, killing six government officials and injuring nine of Osman's staff.

James C. Swan James Christopher Swan (born December 10, 1963) is an American diplomat. He was the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, United Nations Secretary-General for Somal ...

, the recently appointed diplomat and special envoy to Somalia of the United States of America, was the target of the bomber, but Swan had met the mayor earlier, leaving before the blast occurred. Osman was critically wounded in the attack, and he died from his injuries a week later on 1 August 2019, after having been transported to and hospitalised in

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

. Osman was mourned by members of the international community, including Swan, who condemned the attack as 'heinous.' His life was also commemorated for his long years of civil service and objective to improve Somalia's unfavourable conditions. The

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

n Islamist terrorist organisation al-Shabaab (the Somalian-based jihadist splinter of

al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

) declared its responsibility for the orchestrating of the attack, claiming that the suicide bomber was one of their militants. It is believed that

Ikran Tahlil Farah Ikran Tahlil Farah was a Somali Civil service, civil servant with a background in international human rights law and international relations, who was employed by the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency. At the time of her disappeara ...

, a former employee of Osman, who was herself abducted in Mogadishu in June 2021 and remains missing, may have been in possession of sensitive information regarding the attack.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osman, Abdirahman Abdi 2019 deaths Assassinated Somalian politicians People assassinated by the Al-Shabaab (militant group) Deaths by suicide bomber Information ministers of Somalia Finance ministers of Somalia Mayors of Mogadishu Somali National University alumni Alumni of the University of Westminster Place of birth missing 1965 births Assassinated governors and heads of sub-national entities 21st-century governors African politicians assassinated in the 2010s Politicians assassinated in 2019 Deaths by explosive device Assassinated government ministers in Africa