‘Somalia bombing shows intelligence flaws’

NAIROBI/MOGADISHU: The size and methods of the latest truck bombing in Mogadishu, Somalia, show how international and national government efforts to stop the killings are failing, partly because intelligence gathering is disjointed, security sources say.

More than 300 people were killed in the bombing in the heart of the capital last Saturday, the deadliest attack in the nation’s history. The Islamist insurgency al-Shabaab was blamed.

Two Mogadishu-based security sources said a car and truck bomb were deployed to hit Mogadishu International Airport, a warren of buildings ringed by barbed wire and blast walls that house contractors, diplomats and an EU military training mission.

The driver of the car bomb had been driving through checkpoints for a week ahead of the attack, paying small bribes and getting security forces used to his presence, he said.

A larger truck entered the city and passed through one checkpoint, but was stopped at one known as Kilometer Five.

“Panicking, he tried to force his way through, but got snarled in traffic next to a fuel truck.

“I could see the truck speeding. I also heard few gunshots behind it. Police must have been chasing it,” said Mohamed Ali, 21, who was injured in the blast.

“As it advanced it came to many cars in the street, then the truck driver swerved abruptly to the left lane, but its tyres got stuck in the highway divider. What followed was the blast and smoke.”

The driver of the car bomb was detained. Three security sources said he identified himself as being from al-Shabaab.

A letter from Somalia’s minister of internal security, addressed to the US, Britain and the UN in May complained of competition and secrecy among agencies gathering intelligence.