Update: Former PM Dhunul has also been killed in the blasts.
Update: another three explosions have rocked the regional capital as power has been cut off in several neighborhoods and gunfire can be heard.
The Honorable Aamina Abdi Mohamed was killed moments ago in a suicide explosion in Beledweyne town, multiple reporters and local news sources are saying.
Apparently, the blast took place in Beledweyne town of Hiran region where the election of HOP # 011 is taking place tonight, according to various reports.
More specific reports are saying the blast took place in front of the Hirshabelle Presidential Palace.
In 2012, aged 24, Abdi stood for parliament. She defied clan elders to do so, facing down objections that in doing so she was behaving like a prostitute. Defeating two other candidates, she won a seat reserved for women.
In the 2016 Somali parliamentary election Abdi won an open parliamentary seat in Hiran, Somalia.
Tonight, she was running for re-election since the original 2021 elections were suspended due to political violence.
This story is developing.
