Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
After big Somali blast, masses unite and bomb details emerge
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somali intelligence officials shared a detailed account of the country’s deadliest attack, while thousands marched Wednesday in Mogadishu in a show of defiance against the extremist group blamed for Saturday’s truck bombing that left 320 dead.
Two people have been arrested in the truck bombing that was meant to target Mogadishu’s heavily fortified international airport, where several countries have their embassies, the officials said.
Instead, the truck driver detonated the bomb, weighing up to 1,700 pounds, on a busy street.
Somalia’s president urged the long-fractured Horn of Africa nation to unite, and Mayor Thabit Abdi said the city was “awash in graves.”
Wearing red headbands, a crowd of mostly young men and women gathered at a Mogadishu stadium and shouted slogans against al-Shabab, which has long targeted the seaside city but has not commented on the attack.
Some in Somalia have called the bombing their “9/11,” asking why one of the world’s deadliest attacks in years hasn’t drawn more global attention. Nearly 400 others were wounded.
“You can kill us, but not our spirit and desire for peace,” said high school teacher Zainab Muse. “May Allah punish those who massacred our people,” said university student Mohamed Salad.
At least three people, including a pregnant woman, were injured after security forces opened fire while trying to disperse protesters marching toward the attack site, police said.
Analysts have suggested that al-Shabab, an al-Qaida ally, may have avoided taking responsibility because it did not want to be blamed for the deaths of so many civilians.