Somalia’s PM fires 3 Cabinet ministers as opposition looms

Somalia’s Prime Minister, Hassan Ali Kheyre, speaks during a meeting with AU delegation led by the Chairperson of the African Union Peace and Security Council, Ambassador Ndumiso Ntshinga. The delegation is on a day working visit in Mogadishu, Somalia, on March 23, 2017. (Photo By AMISOM Public Information, CC0)

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s prime minister has fired three Cabinet ministers as his government faces stiff challenges from the opposition.

Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire on Thursday announced the replacement of Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Garaad Omar with Ahmed Isse Awad, a former ambassador to Washington.

Khaire also replaced the interior minister and trade and industries minister.

Opposition parties in the Horn of Africa nation have been trying to capitalize on recent security incidents, accusing the government of shortcomings in a bid to unseat the prime minister. The country is still recovering from an October truck bombing in the capital that killed 512 people and was blamed on the al-Shabab extremist group.

Somalia’s government has accused some opposition politicians of attempting to overthrow it with the support of foreign countries.