Somali premier sacks spy agency chief

MOGADISHU, Somalia

Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble on Monday dismissed Fahad Yasin Haji, the head of National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), months after the mysterious killing of a female intelligence operative.

"The prime minister fired National Intelligence and Security Agency head Fahad Yasin and appointed Major Gen. Bashir Mohamed Gobe as the agency’s interim director," said a statement by the prime minister's office.

The premier ordered the attorney general to investigate the murder of Ikran Tahlil, the female NISA agent who was killed in June. Her family met Roble Sunday night in the capital Mogadishu, just hours before the dismissal.

Somali President Mohamed Abdullah, however, asked Yasin to continue in his role. In a statement, he called the sacking "illegal."

The intelligence agency said Tahlil was kidnapped and murdered by al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabaab, but the terror group is said to have denied the allegations.

Yasin had been in office for four years, the longest serving spy chief in the horn of African country in 20 years.