Attacks are more sophisticated now, experts say
NAIROBI, Kenya -- Somali Islamic insurgents have imported terrorist tactics and technology used with deadly results in Iraq and Afghanistan, threatening the African country's beleaguered government and causing alarm as far as Washington.Somali fighters over the past two years have gone from simply throwing grenades into crowded rooms to building advanced remote-controlled bombs. Analysts fear that the transfer of tactics and technology might strengthen ties between Somali Islamists and al-Qaida.The Somali insurgents offer refuge to terrorists and also might provide territory for training for a strike on the West, said Juan Zarate, the former U.S. deputy national security adviser for combating terrorism. Recruits in jihadist training camps in Somalia already are taught how to use firearms and explosives, according to local and U.S. officials.The U.S. military wrote an urgent internal report this year after a cache of bomb-making materials with sophisticated triggering devices was found in Somalia."People are very concerned that technology from Iraq and Afghanistan is being transferred to Somalia," said Zarate, now a senior adviser at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.The increasing sophistication of attacks came amid an influx of hundreds of foreign jihadi fighters to the lawless Horn of Africa state over the past year. Experts are uncertain, however, whether the new tactics and technology are being brought by Somalis who fought abroad, freelance jihadi fighters or al-Qaida-linked figures.In the latest Iraq- or Afghan-style attack, a suicide bomber wearing women's clothing detonated explosives last week during a university graduation in the tiny portion of Mogadishu under government control. The blast killed 24 people, including three cabinet ministers.Somalia's most dangerous militant group -- al-Shabab, which has ties to al-Qaida -- denied that it was behind the bombing. Taliban militants, blamed for most suicide bombings in Afghanistan, also typically deny responsibility for blasts that kill many civilians and cause outrage."What happens in Somalia is not original tactics, it is a copy of what happens in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Somali Information Minister Dahir Gelle. "We understand where (the insurgents) train and who is sending them ... The coordination and tactics and sophistication comes from al-Qaida."Although Somalia has been at war for nearly two decades, suicide bombs were unheard-of there until 2007.The first complex bomb attack in Somalia occurred in October 2008, when five nearly simultaneous suicide bombings claimed 21 lives. Since then, there have been three suicide attacks on African Union peacekeeping bases in Mogadishu. http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/national_world/stories/2009/12/12/copy/somalia_bombs_1212.ART_ART_12-12-09_A6_RTFVJLE.html?adsec=politics&sid=101
NAIROBI, Kenya -- Somali Islamic insurgents have imported terrorist tactics and technology used with deadly results in Iraq and Afghanistan, threatening the African country's beleaguered government and causing alarm as far as Washington.Somali fighters over the past two years have gone from simply throwing grenades into crowded rooms to building advanced remote-controlled bombs. Analysts fear that the transfer of tactics and technology might strengthen ties between Somali Islamists and al-Qaida.The Somali insurgents offer refuge to terrorists and also might provide territory for training for a strike on the West, said Juan Zarate, the former U.S. deputy national security adviser for combating terrorism. Recruits in jihadist training camps in Somalia already are taught how to use firearms and explosives, according to local and U.S. officials.The U.S. military wrote an urgent internal report this year after a cache of bomb-making materials with sophisticated triggering devices was found in Somalia."People are very concerned that technology from Iraq and Afghanistan is being transferred to Somalia," said Zarate, now a senior adviser at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.The increasing sophistication of attacks came amid an influx of hundreds of foreign jihadi fighters to the lawless Horn of Africa state over the past year. Experts are uncertain, however, whether the new tactics and technology are being brought by Somalis who fought abroad, freelance jihadi fighters or al-Qaida-linked figures.In the latest Iraq- or Afghan-style attack, a suicide bomber wearing women's clothing detonated explosives last week during a university graduation in the tiny portion of Mogadishu under government control. The blast killed 24 people, including three cabinet ministers.Somalia's most dangerous militant group -- al-Shabab, which has ties to al-Qaida -- denied that it was behind the bombing. Taliban militants, blamed for most suicide bombings in Afghanistan, also typically deny responsibility for blasts that kill many civilians and cause outrage."What happens in Somalia is not original tactics, it is a copy of what happens in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Somali Information Minister Dahir Gelle. "We understand where (the insurgents) train and who is sending them ... The coordination and tactics and sophistication comes from al-Qaida."Although Somalia has been at war for nearly two decades, suicide bombs were unheard-of there until 2007.The first complex bomb attack in Somalia occurred in October 2008, when five nearly simultaneous suicide bombings claimed 21 lives. Since then, there have been three suicide attacks on African Union peacekeeping bases in Mogadishu. http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/national_world/stories/2009/12/12/copy/somalia_bombs_1212.ART_ART_12-12-09_A6_RTFVJLE.html?adsec=politics&sid=101
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