At least eight people have been killed by a car bomb claimed by al-Shabab in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, police have said. Monday’s attack targeted Khalif Ahmed Ilig, the Mogadishu security chief, in one of the bloodiest assaults in the war-ravaged capital in recent months. “We’ve counted at least eight dead so far. It was a car bomb attack near the National Theatre,” said police official Mohamed Duale. Al Jazeera’s Peter Greste confirmed local sources had told him the target was the intelligence chief of the district controlling Mogadishu. Quoting local sources, our correspondent said “at least six or seven – possibly eight – people have died in this explosion”. Hassan Salad, who witnessed the attack, said: “Many have been killed, some of them were in a minibus that was hit by the blast. This is a disaster, there is smoke and dead bodies thrown all around.” The anti-government fighters have vowed to topple President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who took office last year after being chosen by the country’s new parliament. While al-Shabab in recent months has been on the back foot in Somalia, having lost a string of key towns to a 17,000-strong African Union force fighting alongside Somali soldiers.
USA rightly takes credit of eliminating the top leadership of Al Qaeda, however, they must also accept the responsibility of making Al Qaeda an International enterprise like Al Shabab in Somalia.
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