Islamist militants claim suicide attack on Somali PM

[Jacaylbaro]

MOGADISHU, June 4 (Reuters) - A militant Islamist group on Monday claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb that killed seven people at the home of Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi, vowing to continue attacks until "occupiers" left Somalia.

 

Gedi -- who has now survived four attempts on his life in the last two years -- blamed al Qaeda for the Sunday night blast at his compound in north Mogadishu.

 

"Suicide bombers linked with terrorism and the al Qaeda network attacked my residence to eliminate me, my family and all the government officials who were in a meeting with me," Gedi told a news conference on Monday.

 

Five soldiers and two civilians died when the bomber detonated a vehicle rigged with explosives at the gates of his large compound in a heavily guarded northern neighbourhood. African Union peacekeepers raced in to whisk him to safety.

 

A group calling itself the Mujahideen Youth Movement said in a statement on the Internet that "a lion ... our brave brother Abdul-Aziz Mohammad Semter ... carried out a heroic martyrdom operation at the residence of the apostate prime minister".

 

It added: "Your brethren at the Mujahideen Youth Movement are pressing on with their holy fight against all occupiers and apostates." The statement could not be immediately verified but was on a site used by al Qaeda and other Islamist militants.

 

Near daily attacks on government troops and their Ethiopian military allies are blamed on members of an ousted Islamist movement who have vowed to wage an "Iraq-style" insurgency.

 

On Monday morning, assailants tossed grenades at a pickup truck full of government soldiers in Mogadishu, witnesses said. Nobody died, but the early morning attack underscored tensions in the coastal city.

 

U.S. STRIKES

 

Gedi's interim administration, which is due to pave the way for elections in 2009, was established in 2005 in the 14th attempt to bring central rule to the Horn of Africa nation since the 1991 fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre ushered in a period of anarchy.

 

But despite two major offensives against Islamist strongholds in Mogadishu earlier this year, which killed at least 1,300 people and sent scores of thousands fleeing the city, the insurgents have not been defeated.

 

The government had been hoping to hold a national reconciliation conference in mid-June, but that looks a tall order in the current climate of insecurity.

 

On Friday, a U.S. warship fired missiles at a group of foreign jihadists in the remote mountains of northern Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland, regional officials said.

 

CNN said the target was an al Qaeda suspect.

 

Puntland's finance minister said on Sunday that six Islamists had been killed in the strikes and in gun battles with local forces.

 

The United States also launched air strikes in southern Somalia in January aimed at three top al Qaeda suspects, killing other members of the group, U.S. officials have said. (Additional reporting Inal Ersan in Dubai, Farah Roble in Mogadishu)

[Gordon Gekko]

Another suicide bomber blew himself up at Mogadishu University today, their wannabe-tactics to resemble the Iraqi suicide-bombers to the dot is obvious but the question is who their really helping. Cant be the people since they killed mostly civilians in the latest attacks. And targeting the University, even though they were looking for the troops near the area was a real bad move in winning ppls heart.

 

Just a matter of time before this new movement will fade away like the others.

[Libaax-Sankataabte]

Somalia had its first suicide bombing in Baidoa when there was no Ethiopian occupation and the ICU was on top of the world. This ideology is here to stay whether we like it or not. It has arrived and we have to live with it. Will Somalis tolerate such act in the long run? Probably! ... but this phenomenon also has the potential of triggering a tribal conflict of immense proportions.

[Jacaylbaro]

We created the situation and we have the results now to make suicide bombings ,,,,, it started and will continue even if there are no ethiopians and other foreigners.

 

Let's blame ourselves ,,,,,,,,