Anger grows after bomb blast

2009-12-05 16:27

Mogadishu - Two days after a suicide bomb blast ripped through a graduation ceremony in Mogadishu, even the most resilient in war-torn Somalia expressed outrage Saturday at the growing price paid by civilians.

At least 23 people - including three government ministers and three journalists - were killed on Thursday when a bomber blew himself up among medical students, in one of the worst attacks to rock a country mired in civil conflict since 1991.

The president of the internationally-backed transitional federal administration, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, blamed the attack on the Islamist insurgency.

But the two main rebel groups - the al-Qaeda-linked Shebab movement and its Hezb al-Islam allies - both denied any involvement.

"The damage here is not only inflicted on politicians but the pain is touching everybody. I lost three of my university colleagues and two of them were about to receive their diplomas," Mohamoud Hasan told AFP.

Many in Mogadishu say they have little doubt that the Shebab and foreign jihadi allies were behind the attack. Few dare to say so on the record but the bombing has triggered a wave of anger rarely felt in the capital after previous attacks.

"Allah will judge those who carried out the attack and those people will never succeed with gratuitous violence," said a seething Hasan.

The Shebab have launched deadlier attacks in the past against the Ethiopian troops that occupied the country until January, as well as against African Union peacekeepers and government forces.

The Shebab impose a very strict form of Sharia which is in breaking with Somali tradition but had enjoyed some respect for their struggle against the Ethiopians and their ability to maintain law and order.

"We have no reason to stay in this country anymore because you can see that the violence is reaching new levels, it's reaching the final stage of total indiscrimination," said Shamso Ibrahim Ali, a student at Banadir university.

Abdinasir Moalim Dualeh, a teacher who left the scene of the attack on Thursday minutes before the blast, still cannot come to terms with the violence that devastated his student community.

"I'm still in complete shock and I cannot explain what happened on Thursday. I can say this attack was the worst we've ever had. It didn't just kill doctors and teachers, they are killing the future," he said.

"It is clear that those behind the attack simply want to destroy everything. They are eliminating educated individuals, future doctors, when anyone can see the country needs doctors," Abdiasis Anan, another teacher, said.

Even government officials expressed disbelief at the attack.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they'd attacked an army base or a government building, but today everybody in the country is shocked that innocent student and teachers were massacred," police officer Mohamed Abdulle said.

On Friday, Somalis held a rare street protest after prayers in the central town of Dhusamareb to condemn the attack.

Residents told AFP that hundreds turned out for the demonstration, which was organised by Ahlu Sunna wal Jamaa, a moderate Sufi organisation opposed to hardline Islamists.

"We condemn this barbaric act and call upon the Somali people to stand together to fight those enemies who attacked their children," a spokesman for the group, Sheikh Abdullahi Abdurahman Abu Yusuf, told the demonstrators.

"This attack was carried out by the enemies of Allah and they will not get away with those evil acts," Sheikh Omar Sheikh Mohamed, the movement's chairman for central Somalia, said.

- SAPA