Somalia condemns Las Vegas shooting

Somalia’s president has condemned the violence in the US city of Las Vegas which led to the death of 59 people late on Sunday, Somalia’s local Garowe Online reported.

Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo rejected the notion of violence and terrorism and passed condolences over to the victims of the attacks. “On behalf of my Government and the people of Somalia, I send my sincere condolences to the families of the victims of the heinous act of terror in Las Vegas,” Farmajo said.

A gunman opened fire from his hotel towards an open-air music festival late on Sunday. Some 59 people were killed and 527 injured in the attack. The gunman has been identified as 66-year-old Stephen Paddock.

Daesh has claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming that Paddock converted to Islam a few months ago. United States investigators have found no connection with international terrorism.

Somalia and the United States have strong bilateral ties, and the US is currently assisting Somali security forces with the threat of terrorism in Somalia from the Al-Shabaab armed group which is affiliated with Al-Qaeda.