Last week, a top Somali government minister was killed in a suicide bombing claimed by Al-Shabab militants opposed to the government. It was the latest of about a dozen al-Shabab-related suicide attacks that have rocked Somalia for the past three years. A professor in the United States has a theory about why suicide bombings, suicide attack are becoming increasingly common in a country that had never seen one prior to 2006. On September 18, 2006, a suicide car bomber rammed his car into a convoy escorting the president of Somalia's transitional federal government at the time, Abdullahi Yusuf, in the central town of Baidoa. The Somali leader was unhurt, but the attack killed his brother and four of his bodyguards. The attack took place around the time when President Yusuf and his U.N.-backed interim government approved neighboring Ethiopia's plan to amass troops inside Somalia to fight the Islamic Courts Union, a coalition of moderate and hard-line Islamists who had taken over Somalia in June of that year. The suicide bombing in Baidoa was a turning point for Somalia, whose citizens, up until then, were reluctant to believe that a tactic used by extremists around the world would be imported to be used against Somalis. Professor Robert Pape at the University of Chicago in the United States has been studying suicide terrorism cases since 1980. He says by inviting Ethiopian troops to invade Somalia, he believes the Somali government created an ideal trigger for the country's first suicide attack. "From 1980 until the end of 2008, there were nearly 1,800 suicide terrorist attacks around the world," Pape said. "Ninety-five percent of those attacks have occurred in a specific context -- that is in the context of a foreign military occupation of a country. For instance, before the U.S. invasion in March, 2003, Iraq never experienced a suicide attack in its history. Since our invasion, this has become the largest suicide terrorist campaign that we have witnessed." In late December, 2006, Ethiopia defeated the Islamic Courts Union and installed the government of Abdullahi Yusuf in its place. A violent Islamist-led insurgency ensued and Ethiopia kept thousands of troops in Somalia to prop up the weak government.Pape says in Somalia, the occupation of troops loyal to a Christian-dominated government in Addis Ababa, backed by the United States, was viewed by most ordinary Somalis as a threat to the country's sovereignty. And it gave al-Shabab, the al-Qaida-linked militant wing of the Islamic Courts Union, the popular support it needed to recruit, re-group, and to carry out increasingly deadlier suicide attacks. ..more..http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-06-24-voa47.cfm?rss=war
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Suicide Bombings Increase in Somalia
Exclusive Pictures , Somalia:Al-Shabab claims the suicide attack killing security minister »
Last week, a top Somali government minister was killed in a suicide bombing claimed by Al-Shabab militants opposed to the government. It was the latest of about a dozen al-Shabab-related suicide attacks that have rocked Somalia for the past three years. A professor in the United States has a theory about why suicide bombings, suicide attack are becoming increasingly common in a country that had never seen one prior to 2006. On September 18, 2006, a suicide car bomber rammed his car into a convoy escorting the president of Somalia's transitional federal government at the time, Abdullahi Yusuf, in the central town of Baidoa. The Somali leader was unhurt, but the attack killed his brother and four of his bodyguards. The attack took place around the time when President Yusuf and his U.N.-backed interim government approved neighboring Ethiopia's plan to amass troops inside Somalia to fight the Islamic Courts Union, a coalition of moderate and hard-line Islamists who had taken over Somalia in June of that year. The suicide bombing in Baidoa was a turning point for Somalia, whose citizens, up until then, were reluctant to believe that a tactic used by extremists around the world would be imported to be used against Somalis. Professor Robert Pape at the University of Chicago in the United States has been studying suicide terrorism cases since 1980. He says by inviting Ethiopian troops to invade Somalia, he believes the Somali government created an ideal trigger for the country's first suicide attack. "From 1980 until the end of 2008, there were nearly 1,800 suicide terrorist attacks around the world," Pape said. "Ninety-five percent of those attacks have occurred in a specific context -- that is in the context of a foreign military occupation of a country. For instance, before the U.S. invasion in March, 2003, Iraq never experienced a suicide attack in its history. Since our invasion, this has become the largest suicide terrorist campaign that we have witnessed." In late December, 2006, Ethiopia defeated the Islamic Courts Union and installed the government of Abdullahi Yusuf in its place. A violent Islamist-led insurgency ensued and Ethiopia kept thousands of troops in Somalia to prop up the weak government.Pape says in Somalia, the occupation of troops loyal to a Christian-dominated government in Addis Ababa, backed by the United States, was viewed by most ordinary Somalis as a threat to the country's sovereignty. And it gave al-Shabab, the al-Qaida-linked militant wing of the Islamic Courts Union, the popular support it needed to recruit, re-group, and to carry out increasingly deadlier suicide attacks. ..more..http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-06-24-voa47.cfm?rss=war
Last week, a top Somali government minister was killed in a suicide bombing claimed by Al-Shabab militants opposed to the government. It was the latest of about a dozen al-Shabab-related suicide attacks that have rocked Somalia for the past three years. A professor in the United States has a theory about why suicide bombings, suicide attack are becoming increasingly common in a country that had never seen one prior to 2006. On September 18, 2006, a suicide car bomber rammed his car into a convoy escorting the president of Somalia's transitional federal government at the time, Abdullahi Yusuf, in the central town of Baidoa. The Somali leader was unhurt, but the attack killed his brother and four of his bodyguards. The attack took place around the time when President Yusuf and his U.N.-backed interim government approved neighboring Ethiopia's plan to amass troops inside Somalia to fight the Islamic Courts Union, a coalition of moderate and hard-line Islamists who had taken over Somalia in June of that year. The suicide bombing in Baidoa was a turning point for Somalia, whose citizens, up until then, were reluctant to believe that a tactic used by extremists around the world would be imported to be used against Somalis. Professor Robert Pape at the University of Chicago in the United States has been studying suicide terrorism cases since 1980. He says by inviting Ethiopian troops to invade Somalia, he believes the Somali government created an ideal trigger for the country's first suicide attack. "From 1980 until the end of 2008, there were nearly 1,800 suicide terrorist attacks around the world," Pape said. "Ninety-five percent of those attacks have occurred in a specific context -- that is in the context of a foreign military occupation of a country. For instance, before the U.S. invasion in March, 2003, Iraq never experienced a suicide attack in its history. Since our invasion, this has become the largest suicide terrorist campaign that we have witnessed." In late December, 2006, Ethiopia defeated the Islamic Courts Union and installed the government of Abdullahi Yusuf in its place. A violent Islamist-led insurgency ensued and Ethiopia kept thousands of troops in Somalia to prop up the weak government.Pape says in Somalia, the occupation of troops loyal to a Christian-dominated government in Addis Ababa, backed by the United States, was viewed by most ordinary Somalis as a threat to the country's sovereignty. And it gave al-Shabab, the al-Qaida-linked militant wing of the Islamic Courts Union, the popular support it needed to recruit, re-group, and to carry out increasingly deadlier suicide attacks. ..more..http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-06-24-voa47.cfm?rss=war
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