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| Africa Horn |
| Somali govt says rebels have more car bombs ready |
| 2009-09-19 |
| [Asharq al-Aswat] Somalia's al Shabaab insurgents have six more stolen United Nations vehicles primed as suicide bombs, the government said on Friday. President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's administration says it will not be bowed by twin suicide car bombs that hit the African Union's (AU) main base in Mogadishu on Thursday, killing 17 AU peacekeepers, including the AMISOM force's deputy commander. But the audacious attack by two U.N.-marked cars on the heart of the peacekeeping mission raises serious questions about the credibility of the deeply divided government, which controls little more than a few districts of the capital. The state minister for defence, Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siad, a former warlord also known as "Inda'ade" or "white eyes", said the insurgents had seized more U.N. vehicles in recent months. "We were all aware of their suicidal preparations but we never thought they would penetrate the AMISOM compound," he said. "We knew they were masterminding eight cars ... they are left with six more cars. That is cowardice." Inda'ade said the bombings would not stop the government launching fresh attacks against al Shabaab, which Washington says is al Qaeda's proxy in the failed Horn of Africa state. "People will see what we'll do to them. They are not Muslims ... We know each other. Let's wait and see what happens next." Al Shabaab gunmen, including foreign fighters, have attacked and looted U.N. compounds in Somalia in recent months. Thursday's attack was the worst on the 5,000-strong AU force of troops from Uganda and Burundi. The Ugandan force commander was also wounded in the explosions. |
| Posted by:Fred |