Bomb hits convoy carrying Qataris in Somalia, eight dead
By Abdi Sheikh and Feisal Omar
MOGADISHU | Sun May 5, 2013 9:49am EDT
(Reuters) - A suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden car into a convoy
carrying Qatari officials through the center of Somalia's capital Mogadishu
on Sunday, killing at least eight Somalis, officials said.
The visiting delegation of Qataris, who were traveling in the Somali
interior minister's bullet-proof vehicle, were "safe", a security officer
told Reuters, without going into further detail. The minister was not in the
car at the time.
The Islamist rebel group al Shabaab said it was behind the attack and
threatened further strikes against Somalia's government, which it called a
"puppet" of Western powers.
"More explosions are on the way," al Shabaab's military spokesman Sheikh
Abdiasis Abu Musab told Reuters by telephone.
The al Qaeda-linked rebels, who want to impose their version of Islamic law
or sharia on the country, have kept up a campaign of guerrilla-style attacks
since African peacekeepers pushed them out of bases in the city and other
major towns.
Western powers, long worried Somalia is a launch pad for militant Islam in
east Africa and beyond, fear it could slide back into chaos if security
forces cannot cement security gains.
The blast tore through the busy 'Kilometre 4' road junction in the center of
Mogadishu's commercial and administrative district, hurling metal debris
over a wide area. Nearby buildings were blackened and power cables hung
loose from poles.
It was not clear in the confusion that followed the blast how many people
had been killed. A coordinator for Mogadishu's emergency services said
ambulances had carried away the 15 bodies.
Earlier, the chairman of the city's Hodan district, where the attack took
place, told reporters at the blast site eight people had died.
"A silver 4x4 sped around the roundabout blaring its horn as it chased the
convoy," college student Abdullahi Ismail told Reuters at the scene, nursing
a gash in his forehead. "It hit the last car in the convoy."
LONDON CONFERENCE
Qatar has been forging closer political ties with Somalia in recent years as
it seeks to expand its influence in the Horn of Africa region.
Sunday's bomb was a stark reminder of two decades of civil strife in a
country where the central government depends heavily on a near 18,000-strong
African peacekeeping force for its survival.
While there has been a significant improvement in the coastal capital since
African Union troops drove the Islamist al Shabaab group out of the city in
2011, the attack showed the relative ease with which the militants can still
strike.
Parts of Mogadishu were in lock-down last week after security officials
received a tip-off about an imminent attack, but security was relaxed on
Saturday.
The 'Kilometre 4' intersection connects the city's fortified airport, where
the United Kingdom opened an embassy on April 25, with the presidential
palace, parliament and other ministries.
The state of Somalia's security forces will top the agenda at conference in
London on May 7. Britain and Somalia are hoping to use the event to drum up
more international support at a time when al Shabaab are weakened as a
fighting force but can still inflict devastating strikes.
Civil war after the fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 left Somalia
without effective central government and awash with weapons. The turmoil
opened the doors for piracy to flourish in the Gulf of Aden and deeper into
the Indian Ocean.
(Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
