Aletho News

Somali regime: ‘Intelligence reports say more bomb attacks will follow’

Resistance movements deny responsibility for attacks while TFG crumbles

By Abayomi Azikiwe
Pan African News Wire
December 8, 2009

A bomb blast at the Shamo Hotel in Mogadishu has further destabilized the fragile Transitional Federal Government (TFG) that is backed by the United States through the deployment of 4,500 troops under the auspices of the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM). The attack killed over 20 people including four ministers in the government headed by President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.

The TFG has never had control over more than a section of the Somalia capital despite the allocation of millions of dollars in weapons and equipment to the AMISOM forces from both the Bush and Obama administrations. The government’s position has become even more precarious with the expulsion of three top military officers in the TFG bringing to light the splits within the regime.

On December 6 it was announced that new police and military commanders were being appointed to handle the worsening security situation. Garowe online said that “Gen. Ali Mahamed Hassan [Madobe] is the new police chief, replacing Gen. Abdi Hassan Awale [Qaybdid] while Gen. Mahamed Gelle Kahiye is taking over the military from the sacked Gen. Yussuf Hussein Osman [Dhumaal].” (Garowe Online, December 6)

This same report went on to state that “The embattled Somali government recently sacked Somali military and police commanders for failure to curb the rampant insurgency in the war-torn country.” Although the TFG cabinet and Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke praised the newly-appointed police and military commanders, there was opposition to the decision which was reflected in demonstrations of hundreds of people in the capital who supported the former officials.

In the immediate aftermath of the bombing, the TFG placed blame on the main Islamic resistance organization, Al-Shabab, which denied responsibility for the attack. The other organization fighting the TFG, Hizbul Islam, also refuted the allegations that they were involved in the explosions that took place during a graduation ceremony for Benadir University.

A spokesman for Al-Shabaab, Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, said that “We declare that al-Shabaab did not mastermind that explosion…. It is not in the nature of al-Shabaab to target innocent people.” (Al Jazeera quote from Reuters, December 4)

The al-Shabab spokesman went on to stress that “We know that some so-called government official left the scene of the explosion just minutes before the attack. That is why it is clear that they were behind the killing.”
Nonetheless, the Somali police have warned of other attacks by al-Shabaab which controls large sections of the southern and central regions of the country. According to Abdullahi Hassan Barise of the Somali police, “Our intelligence reports say al-Shabaab has prepared two suicide bombers in high-ranking police and military uniforms. They are going to target the airport and seaport. We have alerted all our forces. They should not be deceived by these al-Shabaab suicide bombers.” (Reuters, December 8)

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December 8, 2009 - Posted by aletho | False Flag Terrorism