Somalia blast

The saddest part of the powerful blast that ripped through Somalia’s capital and killed 189 people on Saturday is that it will probably never get the attention it deserves. The world will not sit up and notice nor will there be any candle-light vigils to remember the victims of this massive tragedy. Somalia’s single biggest act of terror – thought to have been set off by a truck rigged with explosives – will go largely unmourned by the rest of the world. Mogadishu’s pain will remain with it largely unshared. Most of the victims were burnt beyond recognition, creating a nightmarish situation for medics, ambulance workers and all those trying to identify their loved ones.

The blast occurred barely 48 hours after the head of the US Africa Command was in Mogadishu to meet with Somalia’s president, and two days after the country’s defence minister and army chief resigned for undisclosed reasons. The government of Somalia has blamed the al Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab group for the attack even though the group has remained silent about its suspected role. Shabaab routinely attacks high-profile targets such as hotels and western complexes in the Somali capital.

This year the US military has accelerated drone strikes and other efforts this year against al Shabaab, which is also fighting the Somali military and over 20,000 African Union forces in the country. The militants controlled Mogadishu between 2007 and 2011 but withdrew as fighting raged. African Union peacekeepers also drove them out of most other territory they once controlled. Washington believes such cowardly attacks reinvigorate the commitment of the United States to assist its Somali and African Union partners to combat the scourge of terrorism. Countries that cannot meet the basic needs of its citizens certainly can’t afford to make the world aware of their culture and values. As a result, they are forgotten like Somalia.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2017.

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