Mogadishu: Two suicide car bombs bearing UN logos exploded at the main base of African Union peacekeepers in the Somali capital, sending plumes of black smoke into the air, witnesses and officials said on Thursday. There was no immediate word on casualties.
A security officer at the airport, where the base is located, said the explosions were caused by two white Land Cruisers with United Nations logos. An AU official confirmed that blasts occurred.
"The soldiers at the gate assumed they were UN cars and opened the gate for them," the security official said, asking that his name not be used because he is not authorised to speak to the media.
"When the cars entered one of them sped toward a petrol depot and exploded. The other one exploded in a nearby area."
The attack came two days after a Somali Islamic militia group, al-Shabab, vowed revenge for a US commando raid that killed an al Qaeda operative in Somalia. It was not immediately clear if there was a link between Monday`s helicopter assault that killed Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan and Thursday`s car bombs.
"I heard a huge explosion and then when I came out from my home I heard another and saw black smoke rising up into the sky," said Mogadishu resident Abdullahi Farah.
Many experts fear the country`s lawlessness could provide a haven for al Qaeda, offering a place for terrorists to train and gather strength — much like Afghanistan in the 1990s. The United States accuses al-Shabab of having ties to the terror network, which al-Shabab denies.
Al-Shabab demanded on Thursday that France stop supporting Somalia`s government and withdraw its warships from anti-piracy patrols in exchange for the release of a French security agent — conditions which the French government immediately rejected.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told France-Info radio that Paris` support for the embattled Somali government remains firm, noting he has twice met with Somali President Sheikh Sharif and his ministers, who "represent Somalia".
Al-Shabab, which allegedly has links to al Qaeda, also demanded that France exert pressure to force African Union peacekeepers out of the country and "release all the prisoners of the holy warriors held in many areas, which we will reveal later."
The Frenchman, whose identity has not been released, was seized along with another agent July 14 in the capital, Mogadishu. The pair were in the country to train Somali government forces, which are fighting Islamist militiamen.
The kidnappers separated the two men. The other agent escaped in August while his captors slept.
Al-Shabab vowed on Tuesday to retaliate against Western interests for Monday`s US-led commando raid in rural southern Somalia that left six dead, including Nabhan, one of the most-wanted al Qaeda operatives in the region.
The use of a helicopter attack rather than a missile strike from the sea or an unmanned Predator drone, suggests that the US wanted to both prevent any civilian deaths and minimise local anger. But al-Shabab vowed swift retaliation.
Foreigners rarely travel to Somalia, which is among the most dangerous countries in the world. The country has not had a functioning government for 18 years since clan warlords overthrew a brutal dictator, then unleashed their militias on each other.
Kidnappings for ransom have been on the rise in recent years, with journalists and aid workers often targeted. Two foreign journalists — Canadian Amanda Lindhout and Australian Nigel Brennan — have been held for a year.
Bureau Report
