United Nations Convoy Targeted by Al-Shabaab

A day after the group slaughtered 36 quarry workers in the Kenyan town of Mandera, Al-Shabaab carried out a car bomb attack against a United Nations convoy near the airport at Mogadishu. Although no United Nations officials were injured or killed, a Somali military intelligence officer was killed as he attempted to stop the truck carrying the explosives as well as other innocent bystanders. The airport is used as a hub for several international diplomatic missions. It is where several U.N. staffers are housed, and is a base of operations for nearly 22,000 African Union troops. Sheik Abdiasis Abu Musab, the Al-Qaeda linked terror group’s military operations spokesman stated the following after the group claimed responsibility for the attack, “Our Mujahideen (fighters) based in Mogadishu have today targeted a convoy of foreign mercenaries and their apostate allies nearby the airport.” In February, the group carried out a similar attack on another United Nations convoy, this one killing six people including Somali security guards.

Al-Shabaab is seeking to establish a Somali state that adheres to a strict interpretation of Islamic law, better known as Shariah. However, in the past year alone, Al-Shabaab has been very active in East Africa as well. Last month, Al-Shabaab ambushed a bus in route to Nairobi and killed 28 passengers who refused to recite verses of the Quran. In September, Ugandan police arrested 19 suspected members of the group who were believed to be preparing to execute suicide missions in Kampala in retaliation for Uganda’s assistance in targeting the group’s deceased leader Ahmed Godane. Al-Shabaab vowed to step up its attacks in retaliation for Godane’s death, and has been doing so with no end in sight.