http://ca.news.yahoo.com/militants-somalia-attack-presidential-palace-car-bomb-gunmen-103429799.html
9
attackers dead after assault on Somalia presidential palace; Army weapons
sold to militantsBy Abdi Guled And Jason Straziuso, The Associated Press | The
Canadian Press - Feb 21 - 18 minutes ago
MOGADISHU, Somalia - Nine al-Shabab militants wearing military fatigues and
carrying guns and grenades died after attacking the presidential palace
with two car bombs on Friday, in an assault the president called a "media
spectacular" by a "dying animal."
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was unharmed, but two government officials
were killed, the interior ministry said.
The attack underscores a worrying new trend in Mogadishu: That despite a
period of relative calm following al-Shabab's ouster from Mogadishu in
August 2011, militants have carried out a series of deadly assaults in
recent weeks that have seen the city hit with mortar fire and pitched
battles.
Weapons meant for the Somali army could have been used by the militants in
Friday's attack. A confidential U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia and
Eritrea reported this month that the country's military is selling weaponry
in markets where the al-Qaida-linked militants buy weapons.
In at least one case weapons were sold by a military commander directly to
an al-Shabab commander, the confidential report said.
Friday's attack against the compound where the president and prime minister
live began with a car bomb explosion, followed by an assault by gunmen on
palace guards, said police Capt. Mohamed Hussein. Al-Shabab, an
al-Qaida-linked group, claimed responsibility.
"President just called me to say he's unharmed. Attack on Villa #Somalia
had failed. Sadly some lives lost. I condemn strongly this terrorism," the
U.N. representative to Somalia, Nick Kay, said on Twitter. He added later:
"The Somali people are tired of shootings, bombings and killings. It's time
for a new chapter in Somalia's history."
The Interior Ministry displayed the seven bloodied and dead bodies of the
attackers and said two others blew themselves up. The wreckages of two car
bombs lay nearby.
The two others killed included a former intelligence commander and an aide
to the prime minister, a Somali-American named Mohamud Hersi Abdulle, said
Hussein.
"Apart from media headlines, #Shabaab will achieve nothing from it," a
Twitter account run by the office of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said. 'Don't be
fooled by this "media spectacular'. This is another act of desperation from
a dying animal."
Al-Shabab has been waging war in Somalia for years as it tries to oust a
Western-backed government. Weakened from its apex of power, the militants
are still able to launch vicious attacks.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack "in the strongest
terms" while the U.N. Security Council said it was "appalled." Both paid
tribute to Somali and African Union forces for repelling the attack.
The Security Council reaffirmed "that this and other acts of terrorism
would not weaken their determination to support the peace and
reconciliation process in Somalia."
The secretary-general expressed concern that recent attacks by al-Shabab
"are clearly aimed at destabilizing the country at a time when many efforts
are being mobilized to restore peace and development," U.N. deputy
spokesman Farhan Haq said.
The U.N. Monitoring Group report, published Feb. 6 and obtained by The
Associated Press, found that many weapons given to Somalia's military can
no longer be accounted for, including rocket-propelled grenades, hand
grenades and bullets. The Monitoring Group "has developed serious concerns
that the 1,000 AK-47s delivered from Uganda" are no longer in government
control, it said.
The report said that two separate clan-based power bases in the government
are procuring weapons with a clan-based agenda that works against peace in
Somalia, including by distributing weapons to clan militias. A sub clan of
the president's dominates weapons procurements and funnels them to Abgaal
militia forces, it said.
"In addition, the Monitoring Group has also obtained documentary evidence
corroborating information that a key advisor to the President, from his
Abgaal subclan, has been involved in planning weapons deliveries to
Al-Shabab leader Sheikh Yusuf Isse 'Kabukatukade', who is also Abgaal," the
report said.
The report also said that ammunition supplied to Somalia's army have been
leaked in large quantities to arms markets. Weapons and ammunition not sold
at a market during the day are taken back for storage in garages and houses
owned by Somalia army officers, the report said.
"Al-Shabaab are known to frequent the market to purchase weapons and
ammunition and were easily identifiable by the salesmen there," the report
said.
Somalia's government has not responded publicly to the report and did not
immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Ken Menkhaus, a Somalia expert at Davidson College, wrote in a new paper on
al-Shabab being published Monday in the CTC Sentinal, Westpoint's
anti-terrorism publication, that al-Shabab has been weakened as a political
movement and will not be able to establish an Islamic state, but that it's
secret service -- "Amniyat" -- can still unleash devastating attacks against
African Union forces and the Somali government.
In Friday's attack, a speeding car full of explosives rammed into a
barricade erected by soldiers protecting the presidential palace, causing
an explosion and sending plumes of smoke into the sky. Amid the mayhem,
gunmen chanting "God is great" then moved toward a second gate and tried to
force their way into the complex.
___
Straziuso reported from Nairobi, Kenya.
Received on Fri Feb 21 2014 - 17:15:45 EST