Somalia names 26-minister cabinet

Somalia on Tuesday unveiled a new cabinet.

The new government was named by Prime minister Hassan Ali Kheyre, who was appointed to the post by president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed last month.

The new cabinet is comprised of 26 members who include a former foreign affairs chief as finance minister and a former Journalist, in charge of foreign affairs.

The cabinet awaits an approval from parliament in the coming days.

The newly elected president has pledged to rid the country of the Islamist insurgent group al-Shabaab and has gone ahead to promise the group’s fighters a “good life” if they surrendered.

But it remains clear that the militants are yet to heed his call as they carried out a deadly attack targeting a security check point near the presidential place, that killed at least five people and wounded several others on Tuesday.

The armed group claimed responsibility for the suicide attack on its website.

Somalia has been in turmoil since 1991 and the country is now battling a drought that is threatening the lives of more than half of the population.