Somaliland:29/10 Suicide Bombings: Explanations?

[Jacaylbaro]

On 29/10 a deplorable act of inhumane atrocity was committed against the peace loving nation of Somaliland. It has been the first time in the history of the country such unprecedented suicide bombers struck in the country’s soil. The attack was not merely a symbolic act on randomly selected places. It was meant to inflict maximum damage to innocent civilians. Twenty-two people were killed and over thirty others injured when three coordinated suicide bombers hit three symbolic sites, the Presidential Palace, Ethiopian Embassy and the UNDP headquarters.

 

As the debris flew in every direction in the aftermath of the powerful and horrific explosions, so now do speculations and explanations of the possible motives of the perpetrators fly around. Many see the bombings as a grim reminder of the common threat Somalilanders face. Some even went further to suggest that suicide bombers visited the city as if the aerial bombings and indiscriminate shelling we witnessed in the late eighties by the then military regime of Siad Barre was not enough. Surely it has come at a time when voter registration and identification was in full swing.

 

For the ordinary public an important question is not who was behind the bombings, because this is a matter for the country’s national security agency to deal with, but most relevant question is what motives did these bombers have? What scores, if any, were they trying to settle? What political message, if they had one, were they trying to communicate? And above all why try to bring anarchy to a country that is at peace with its neighbours? These are the questions many are searching answers for. No one claimed responsibility. In the absence of any group to claim responsibility for these crimes, only those who put together this evil project and those who executed it can answer these questions. Whatever else they wanted to achieve, they surely have succeeded but in one thing: throwing the people of Somaliland together. Both in the public and in the political spheres Somalilanders felt the same abhorrence. Spontaneous condolences for the victims and condemnation of this terrorist act poured in from the Diasporic Somaliland community. Inside the country, in Borama and Burao people took to the streets, showed their tribute to the victims of the senseless bombings, rallied behind their government - true patriotism in working.

 

The President, Mr Dahir R. Kahin, as calm as always, addressed the nation to be vigilant. Opposition party leader, Mr. Mohamoud A. Mohamed and Mr. Faisal Ali Warabe showed their solidarity with the government. Somalilanders are mourning, but are resolute to stick together and to stick to their Islamic and democratic values is all but strengthened. Quick investigation led to locating the houses where those vicious perpetrators were architecting their bombs.

In search for answers Somalilanders, though, need to be very economical with wild speculations; particularly if such guessworks have immediate implications for the innocent refugees from neighbouring Somalia and Ethiopia who in their thousands found save sanctuary in this peaceful nation in an otherwise troubled region.

 

In my view three explanations could be identified:

 

- There are those who think that the suicide bombers were ‘Islamic extremists’. - A second possible explanation is that the bombers were ‘Somali anarchists’.

- A third explanation is that the bombers were ‘home-grown light-headed fanatics’ who served either or both of the above two.

As for the first explanation, the point I want to make is to contest its validity. It seems to me we are forcing a false link between Islam and suicide bombings. In my view people who committed such act have had no Islamic agenda. In fact they could have Islamic agenda. To me it would be wrong to call them Islamic suicide bombers, because to call them so is not only to link the Islamic teachings with terrorism, but it also has further implications for all muslims – that every muslim is by definition potentially capable of committing such crimes. I do not think that this is what we mean when we call them islamists.

 

To me these criminal butchers called their claim to Islam into question when they conspired against fellow muslims. And they ceased to be muslims soon as they implemented their vicious plans. The $100.000 question then is whether such people deserve Islamic burial (washing, clothing, and performing prayers on their bodies and souls)? This is a question of deeply moral implications which we cannot answer in any simplistic way. But we might answer it this way. To begin with, one can argue that the bombers did not adhere to the fundamental tenets and values of the Islamic religion.

 

In this specific situation: the sanctity of human life. Killing innocent people, we all agree, is incompatible with the teachings of Islam, neither for that matter, the teaching of any other faith. Surely killing innocent people is not a short cut to heavens as many would suggest who either call themselves jihadists or are so called. Jihad, as one of the most misconceived conceptions in modern history of Islam, is not applicable here. Rather such cowardly act, I guess, is the highway to hellfire. So let us call spade a spade. They might have been (ex) muslims, but surely they did not die muslims. Neither could they have been Christians or Hindus for that matter. Eternal hellfire awaits them.

 

If the second explanation is true, and it does have all the hallmarks to be so, it would be helpful that would-be butchers take note of the fact that over the past 18 years or so Somaliland has succeeded to develop the political skill needed to deal with such situations. Somaliland has not been just fortunate to have escaped anarchy and insecurity. Rather it was the result of stringent security measures and relentless focus on the peace and stability. It has stood the test of time for the best part of the last two decades. And such cowardly action cannot shake its faith in peace maintenance, nation building and securing international recognition.

 

Whilst the Somaliland government is not fighting and should not fight the same war as Somalia’s TFG, and it is not high time for it to get involved in the internal politics of that nation [somalia], the majority of Somalilanders do not condone Ethiopian involvement in Somalia. At its best most of them see it as patronizing and at worst as an occupation. So whilst many Somalilanders do not think that Ethiopia is doing a benevolent job in Somalia and those who are fighting for a right cause should deal with their problem in their soil, the presence of a diplomatic and commercial Embassy in Hargeisa could in no way be seen in the same light as the occupying forces in Somalia. There are more Somalilanders in Ethiopia than vice versa. There are also historic commercial link and strategic political relations between the two countries which Somaliland should protect at all time for its own interest. Anarchists fail to see the complexity of such relation between the two nations. An important character of anarchist is that he is a two-dimensional demon: friend or foe. Somalilanders do not see their relations with Ethiopia this way.

 

If the attack was not the work of anarchist why was the UNDP headquarters targeted? What political motivation, other than senseless anarchism, would someone have to attack a humanitarian organisation? Let us put this in a little wider perspective. In the past few months there was a wave of assassinations, assassination attempts and kidnapping of staff, both local and expatriates, working for relief agencies in Somalia – organisations that feed and treat the most vulnerable. Similarly in Ethiopia charity organisations were targeted, as it also happened in Somaliland few years ago. Attacking relief missions is fighting inhumanitarian war for evil causes. Surely these people are anarchist and their message reads: don’t feed them, don’t feed us. Such desperation, far from Islamic teachings, is worrying.

 

As for the second explanation though, we have to be careful with drawing generalised conclusion; because ‘anarchists’ are historically always in the minority. They know no borders. What they have in common is that they cannot stand stability, order, and peace. They link up with like-minded people, and this is if the third explanation is true, to destroy other people’s dreams. The only generalisation we can make is to be vigilant at all times.

 

So what next? In my view for the best interest of the region it is now high time for the TFG, the ARS (both wings) or any other significant body in Somalia to start coming to terms with the political reality on the ground. They should, I think, quickly have to consider the recognition of Somaliland’s sovereignty – two state solution, if you like. Only then can the problem of anarchist elements be uprooted from the region.

 

Mohamed Obsiye, London