Suicide Attack Kills Somalia Ministers
A suicide bomber dressed as a woman attacked a graduation ceremony in Somalia's capital, killing at least 14 people, including three Cabinet ministers. The attack underlines the inability of Somalia's weak government to control even the small patch of land it holds in Mogadishu.
MELISSA BLOCK, host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.
In Somalia today, a suicide bombing has taken a heavy toll on the country's besieged government. A man blew himself up at a hotel in Mogadishu. An eyewitness, BBC reporter Mohammed Olad Hassan, was attending a graduation ceremony at the hotel when the attack occurred.
Mr. MOHAMMED OLAD HASSAN (Reporter, BBC): Desks covered us and the smoke covered everywhere. And then we went out of the meeting hall. Some of us with blood blushed on their bodies and cloths.
BLOCK: At least 19 people were killed, among them three Somali government ministers.
NPR's Gwen Thompkins reports.
GWEN THOMPKINS: The health minister, the education minister and the higher education minister are dead. The minister of sports, youth and culture is in a coma. But the explosion at the Shamo Hotel struck not only at Somalia's fragile, internationally-backed government, but also at what little hope there is in that country for a stable future. Several medical students were supposed to become doctors today. Other students were graduating in computer science and engineering. Investigators at the scene have found the remains of a man dressed in the veil and long-flooring abaya that Somali women wear. So, they're assuming that the man carried the explosives on his body.
But suicide bombing is only a recent phenomenon in Somalia, despite almost 20 years of lawlessness and fighting between warlords, Islamists, and opportunists. Increasingly, the Islamists group al-Shabab has been using suicide bombers to kill government officials and African union troops who are in Mogadishu to protect the government. Al-Shabab wants command over all of Somalia. The U.S. says that al-Qaida is mentoring the group. And Somalia's president today blamed the explosion on foreign actors. But at the end of this day, the name that so many in Mogadishu are remembering is that of Dr. Mohammed Wassame Shaheed(ph), the founder of Somalia's only medical school. He too was killed in the blast. And the people responsible must understand the mean-spirited irony of what they've done. They've killed a man whose name in the Somali language means good news.
Gwen Thompkins, NPR News, Nairobi. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.
