In Somalia, another day another deadly bombing

A suicide bomber dressed in women’s clothes blew himself up at a university graduation ceremony in the Somali capital Thursday killing three government ministers and at least 16 others.

Bloody attacks hit Mogadishu on an almost daily basis as the U.N.-backed government defends itself against an onslaught from Islamist extremists but suicide attacks have been on the increase since the start of the year.

In February and again in September suicide bombers targeted the more than 5,000 African Union peacekeepers. In the latter attack, two suicide car bombers drove into the heart of the AU base before exploding their devices in an attack that killed 17 peacekeepers including the force’s deputy commander.

The most deadly attack so far was carried out in June when the national security minister and around 30 others were killed in a suicide bombing in the regional city of Beletweyne.

Intelligence sources have for months warned that the main Islamist group, al-Shabaab, which the US calls a terrorist group and says is linked to Al Qaeda, is drawing support from foreign jihadists hundreds of whom are thought to have come to Somalia from the U.S. and Europe as
well as the frontlines of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.

The increasingly lethal effectiveness of suicide bombing may be an indication of that malign foreign influence. In any case today’s bombing deals a serious blow to the fragile interim government led by Sheikh Sharif Ahmed and adds a few more bodies to the dizzying pile built up during 18-years of war.

http://www.globalpost.com/notebook/africa/091203/somalia-another-day-another-deadly-bombing