Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2014 22:51:29 +0100
Militants Attack Presidential Palace in Somalia
Attack on Presidential Palace in Somalia A militant Somali group, the
Shabab, claimed responsibility for a deadly attack in Mogadishu, the
capital, in which militants blasted through a gate and fought a gun battle
with guards.
By MOHAMMED IBRAHIM and NICHOLAS KULISH
February 21, 2014
MOGADISHU, Somalia - In a deadly attack on the heart of the Somali
government, multiple explosions and a firefight erupted on Friday near the
presidential palace in Mogadishu, killing 12 people, nine of them militants,
officials said. The Shabab, the militant Somali Islamic group, claimed
responsibility.
In a statement, the African Union Mission in Somalia said the attack had
begun with a car bomb explosion that went off at the entrance to the palace,
followed by militants who tried to shoot their way into the compound, where
the president and the speaker of Parliament reside and have their offices.
At a news conference at the palace, known as Villa Somalia, Abdikarim
Hussein Guled, the minister for national security, said that among the dead
were Gen. Nur Shirbow, a former deputy intelligence chief; Mohamud Hersi
Abdulle; the permanent secretary for the office of the prime minister; and a
Somali soldier. The bodies of seven of the militants were on display at the
news conference; the other two had been destroyed by the car bomb.
The Somali president, Hassan Sheik Mohamud, was unharmed. In a statement, he
said that the work of rebuilding a unified country and improving security
nationwide "will in no way be deterred by today's attack" and that the
Shabab would be defeated.
"An act of terrorism, however unspeakable, does not hide the truth that this
is a marginal
<http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/02/22/world/africa/somalia.html?referrer=>
group onhttp://cdncache1-a.akamaihd.net/items/it/img/arrow-10x10.png the
brink of extinction," Mr. Mohamud said. Referring to the African Union
Mission, he added, "The military campaign we are fighting with brave Somali
and Amisom soldiers will eliminate our enemies."
Witnesses reported having heard a loud explosion, followed by an exchange of
gunfire and then a series of other explosions around Villa Somalia.
Ambulances were on the scene collecting the wounded, who included a local
reporter for Kulmiye Radio.
A lawmaker, Salman Mohamed Sheik Dahir, who was slightly injured, said he
had been in a mosque at the center of the compound where the president
usually prays when the attack began. "We were in the middle of the Friday
prayers and the president had not yet come down," he told local reporters.
Ali Mohamoud Raghe, a spokesman for the Shabab, claimed responsibility for
the attack in remarks to local media.
The government recently announced that it would attack Shabab strongholds
and clear the remaining areas where the Shabab dominates in Somalia.
Three suicide bombers
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/world/africa/new-somalia-president-not-hu
rt-by-suicide-bombings.html> tried to assassinate Mr. Mohamud in September
2012 two days after his election, as he was holding a news conference at a
hotel with the visiting Kenyan foreign minister. Mr. Mohamud was not harmed
in that attack either, but an African Union soldier was killed.
The attack on Villa Somalia came a week after at least
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/14/world/africa/car-bomb-outside-airport-in-
somalia.html> five people were killed and a dozen wounded when a car loaded
with explosives blew up near the entrance to the international airport in
Mogadishu, an attack believed to be aimed at a passing United Nations
convoy. The Shabab also claimed responsibility for that attack.
The Shabab came to prominence as a nationalist movement combating the United
States-backed Ethiopian invasion of Somalia in 2006. The group seized
control of large parts of the country, including Mogadishu.
Somali troops and African Union forces have forced the militants back in
recent years, but for all their territorial gains have been unable to stem
the tide of terrorist and guerrilla-style attacks. The Shabab recently even
announced a ban on the use of the Internet in Mogadishu and areas under
their control.
The tactics used in Friday's attack have become all too familiar to security
personnel in Somalia. On New Year's Day,
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/02/world/africa/somalia.html> a similar
assault killed about six people at the Jazeera hotel in Mogadishu. In one of
the worst episodes of violence, militants
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/world/africa/un-compound-in-somalia-is-at
tacked.html> detonated a pickup truck in front of the United Nations
compound last June and then stormed it with gunmen, killing at least 15
people.
Police stations, the court complex in Mogadishu and restaurants popular with
peacekeepers and government officials have all been targeted. The group
demonstrated that it could project power beyond Somalia's borders when
militants armed with AK-47's
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/world/africa/nairobi-mall-shooting.html?p
agewanted=all> carried out a bloody siege at the Westgate shopping mall in
the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, in September, killing more than 60 men, women
and children.
In November, the United Nations Security Council authorized an increase of
more than 4,000 African peacekeepers in Somalia, bringing the total number
there to more than 22,000 while also expanding logistical support for the
fight against the militants.
The Pentagon in December sent a small team of uniformed military advisers to
Somalia to help provide logistics, planning and communications assistance to
Somali and other African forces combating the group. They are the first
American troops there since 1993, when 18 Americans were killed in an
episode widely known as "Black Hawk Down."
After Friday's attack, Nicholas Kay, the United Nations' special
representative for Somalia, said in a statement: "This is another desperate
and criminal act which does nothing but harm to the people of Somalia. The
Somali people are tired of shootings, bombings and killings. It's time for a
new chapter in Somalia's history and we cannot allow a slide back at this
critical time."
Villa Somalia said in a
<https://twitter.com/TheVillaSomalia/status/436833610797449216> Twitter
post: "Don't be fooled by this 'media spectacular.' This is another act of
desperation from a dying animal."
Mohammed Ibrahim reported from Mogadishu, and Nicholas Kulish from Nairobi,
Kenya.
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