From: Er-News (er_news@dehai.org)
Date: Thu Dec 03 2009 - 10:28:10 EST
15 dead after suicide bomber attack in Somalia
AP
By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN, Associated Press Writer Mohamed Olad Hassan,
Associated Press Writer
MOGADISHU, Somalia – A male suicide bomber dressed as a woman
attacked a university graduation ceremony Thursday in a small part of
the capital still under government control, killing up to 19 people,
including three Cabinet ministers and three journalists.
The attack was a severe blow to a country long battered by war and
underscored the government's tenuous hold on even a small area of the
capital. African Union peacekeeping troops protecting the government
wage near daily battles with Islamic militants who hold much of
central and southern Somalia and act so brazenly in the capital that
the carry out public executions.
"What happened today is a national disaster," said Somali Information
Minister Dahir Mohamud Gelle, who confirmed that the ministers for
education, higher education and health were killed in the blast. The
ministers for sports and tourism were also wounded in the attack
inside the Shamo Hotel, he said.
The assailants hit one of Somalia's most important efforts to
extricate itself from anarchy and violence, explaining the presence
of so many top government officials. The former medical students
among the graduates came from only the second class to receive
diplomas from the medical school.
The first class graduated a year ago. Before then, almost two decades
has passed since anyone earned a medical degree in Somalia. In the
December 2008 ceremony, held at the same hotel, the graduates proudly
hoisted diplomas into the air. This year, there was mayhem as the
bomb went off among 43 graduates, their families and officials who
were sitting on plastic chairs facing a small stage, leaving the dead
and wounded in bloody heaps.
More than 40 people were wounded. Students and doctors were among the
dead.
No group immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion fell upon
the militant group al-Shabab, which has ties to al-Qaida, controls
much of the country and has carried out past suicide attacks.
"A man who disguised himself as a woman, complete with a veil and a
female's shoes, is behind the explosion," Gelle said. "We even have
his picture."
Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television said its Somali cameraman, Hassan
Zubeir, died. Two other Somali journalists working for local outlets
also died, said Bashir Khalif, a reporter for the Somali government's
radio service.
A statement from the African Union's mission in Somalia said 19
people were killed. Gelle said 15 people plus the suicide bomber
died. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear.
Somalia's government announced three days of mourning after the
president, prime minister and other top Somali officials held an
emergency meeting at the presidential palace, said Somalia's
ambassador to Kenya, Mohamed Ali Nur.
Nur said the Somali government "will not be weakened by such a
barbaric, inhuman and un-Islamic attack."
"The hopes of many parents who eagerly awaited for their sons'
graduation were recklessly dashed by anti-peace elements," Nur said.
"Today should have been a day of celebration — not a mourning."
Several hundred people had gathered inside a decorated ballroom in
the Shamo Hotel to celebrate the graduations of the medical, computer
science and engineering students from Benadir University. The school
was established in 2002 by Somali doctors who wanted to promote
higher education. Medical degrees require six years of study.
The president of Benadir University said 43 students were taking part
in the graduation ceremony. The university's Web site says more than
500 students are enrolled and that the school "strives to establish
an open system of innovation and critical thinking similar to that in
the developed countries."
The European Union and the African Union condemned the attack.
Somalia has been ravaged by violence and anarchy since warlords
overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, then turned on each
other. A moderate Islamist was elected president in January in hopes
that he could unite the country's feuding factions, but the violence
has continued unabated.
In June, the national security minister died in a suicide bombing
that killed at least 24. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility. In
October, insurgents fired mortars at the airport as the president was
boarding a plane, sparking battles that killed at least 24 people.
Mortars also were fired toward the airport as he returned from his trip.
Before 2007, suicide bombings were unheard of in Somalia. In
September, Islamic insurgents posing as U.N. personnel detonated
suicide car bombs in an African Union peacekeeping base, killing 21
people. In October 2008, there were five apparently coordinated
attacks in key urban centers of northern Somalia.
Somalia's lawlessness has spread security fears around region and
raised concerns that al-Qaida is trying to gain a foothold in the
Horn of Africa. The anarchy has also allowed piracy to flourish off
the country's coast.
Of the three ministers killed in the blast, one was a woman — Qamar
Aden Ali, the health minister. Ibrahim Hassan Adow, the minister for
higher education, and Ahmed Abdullahi Wayel, the minister for
education, also died. There are 37 ministers in Somalia's government,
according to a Web site on the Somali government kept by the CIA.
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