On 24 July 2019, a
female suicide bomber entered and
blew herself up inside Osman's Mogadishu mayoral office, killing six government officials and injuring nine of Osman's staff.
James C. Swan, the recently appointed diplomat and special envoy to Somalia of the United States of America, was the target of the bomber, but Swan had met the mayor earlier, leaving before the blast occurred. Osman was critically wounded in the attack, and he died from his injuries a week later on 1 August 2019, after having been transported to and hospitalised in
Doha,
Qatar. Osman was mourned by members of the international community, including Swan, who condemned the attack as 'heinous.' His life was also commemorated for his long years of civil service and objective to improve Somalia's unfavourable conditions. The
East African
Islamist terrorist organisation
al-Shabaab (the Somalian-based jihadist splinter of
al-Qaeda) declared its responsibility for the orchestrating of the attack, claiming that the suicide bomber was one of their militants. It is believed that
Ikran Tahlil Farah, a former employee of Osman, who was herself abducted in Mogadishu in June 2021 and remains missing, may have been in possession of sensitive information regarding the attack. == References ==