MISSING CONTEXT: This video is not from 2 August attack at Lido Beach Mogadishu, Somalia

The video was initially published on September 17, 2019.

This X (formerly Twitter) post with a video purportedly of Somalia National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) director Abdullahi Mohamed discussing the 2 August 2024 Lido Beach attack is MISSING CONTEXT.

The caption accompaning the video reads as:  “The truth is the bitter  Asmo is a smart girl, that’s right and there is no doubt in it.”

The video captures a lady criticizing Mohamed for handling the Lido Beach attack on 2 August 2024. The clip includes an image and a video of the director as part of the content.

The lady begins by saying “This man is the director of Somali intelligence, Sanbalolshe, and he is telling us that he cannot do anything if there is an explosion, if people are dying, and that there is nothing he can do. 

He is the director of the secret service and listen to what he is saying.”

But is the director discussing the August attack on the beach?

The alleged clip of the director shows journalist Ahmed Hadi challenging him on security issues. The director was asked, “On 14 October 2017, the deadliest attack occurred in Mogadishu, and you were the intelligence director at that time. Now, you are saying that security is out of control. What is the difference between that day and today?”

Mohamed responded, “The police, military chief, and security minister are in place,” and then was asked, “But you were the intelligence director?” He replied, “If I am the director, so what? Does intelligence have a TV where it can see everything? That attack was one event that did not reach its target, and it occurred while we were pursuing it. What was going to happen, happened; those people were created by God, and He destined their death.”

The lady then insists that the intelligence director knew there was an explosion occurring but did not evacuate people, as it was a Friday, and many were coming to the beach.

To verify the authenticity of the clip, a keyword search established that the video was posted on YouTube on 17 September 2019. The director was participating in a question-and-answer program about security and political issues in Somalia.

The clip in question was taken from the 33-minute mark of a 50-minute, 53-second video uploaded to Goobjoog Television’s YouTube channel.

In the clip, the journalist and the director were discussing the 2017 attack in Mogadishu. Over 500 were killed and almost 1,000 more were wounded in that attack.

However, the intelligence director Abdullahi Mohamed Ali Sanbalolshe’s discussion was unrelated to the 2 August 2024 attack on Mogadishu Beach which also resulted in heavy casualties.

A similar clip was also published here. In the video, the NISA chief addressed tribalism in Somalia.

On 2 August 2024, a deadly attack was reported in Lido Beach in Mogadishu, Somalia. The attack caused deaths, injuries and destruction of property at the destination frequented by locals and international tourists.

Puntland Mirror examined an X post with a video purportedly of Somalia NISA director Abdullahi Mohamed discussing the 2 August 2024 Lido Beach attack and found it to be MISSING CONTEXT.

This fact-check was produced by Puntland Mirror under the African Fact-Checking Incubator programme, with support from PesaCheck, Code for Africa’s fact-checking initiative, and the African Fact-Checking Alliance(AFCA).