In a deadly day for the restive nation, a gunman shot Maltese national Paul Anthony Formosa, manager of the port of Bossasso in semi-autonomous Puntland state for P&O; Ports, a subsidiary of the Dubai-based DP World. Shortly thereafter a powerful explosion from a car bomb rocked the busy Hamarweyne market in the capital Mogadishu, killing nine people in the latest attack from the Al-Qaeda affiliate plaguing the country.
What happened
Islamic militants in Somalia have shot dead a senior manager running the port of Bossaso in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, and a car bomb has killed at least 11 in Mogadishu.
The assassination of Paul Anthony Formosa, a Maltese citizen who worked for the Dubai government-owned P&O Ports, and the bombing in the capital, were both claimed by the extremist group al-Shabaab extremist group.
The killing will be a setback to attempts to attract investment to the unstable, poverty-hit and violent country, and will highlight the continuing threat from the insurgents.
Hours after the shooting in Bossaso, at least 11 people died in a car bomb explosion in the capital.
Capt Mohamed Hussein, a police official, said at least nine people were also injured in the blast on Monday near a mall close to Mogadishu’s local government offices, in the city’s Hamar Weyne district.
Mohamed Hussein Aliye, a 31-year-old shopkeeper, was serving customers when the car exploded.
“It was a normal day for us. I saw the man who parked his car. He was thin and young. After 20 minutes it exploded. I was pushed to the wall. I thought I was dead. Smoke and dark dust shut my sight,” he said.
Al-Shabaab said the bombing targeted local administrators.
The attacks came three weeks after a deadly assault by the group on a luxury hotel complex in Nairobi, in neighbouring Kenya.
The US embassy on Monday issued a warning to its citizens about an ongoing threat from Islamic extremists in the east African country.
Status in Somalia
Somalia has not had an effective central government since the 1991 overthrow of president Siad Barre’s military regime which ushered in decades of chaos — including an insurrection by the Shabaab since 2006.
The group once held sway over large swathes of countryside and the capital, however they were chased out of Mogadishu by the 22,000-strong African Union peace-enforcement mission, AMISOM in 2011, and have since abandoned many strongholds.
They nevertheless control vast rural areas and remain a key threat to peace in Somalia and the region, with the capacity to stage significant attacks.
In October 2017, a truck bombing in a busy neighbourhood of Mogadishu killed over 500 people in the deadliest attack in Somalia to date.
On January 15, Shabaab gunmen — and the first-ever suicide bomber in Kenya — attacked the Dusit hotel and office complex in Nairobi, leaving 21 dead and prompting police and the US Embassy to urge caution in public spaces.
Who is Al-Shabab
Al-Shabab means The Youth in Arabic.
Islamist militant group al–Shabab is battling the UN-backed government in Somalia, and has carried out a string of attacks across the region. The group, which is allied to al-Qaeda, has been pushed out of most of the main towns it once controlled, but it remains a potent threat.
It emerged as the radical youth wing of Somalia’s now-defunct Union of Islamic Courts, which controlled Mogadishu in 2006, before being forced out by Ethiopian forces.
There are numerous reports of foreign jihadists going to Somalia to help al-Shabab, from neighbouring countries, as well as the US and Europe.
It is banned as a terrorist group by both the US and the UK and is believed to have between 7,000 and 9,000 fighters.
Al-Shabab advocates the Saudi-inspired Wahhabi version of Islam, while most Somalis are Sufis.
It has imposed a strict version of Sharia in areas under its control, including stoning to death women accused of adultery and amputating the hands of thieves.
In a joint video released in February 2012, then al-Shabab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane said he “pledged obedience” to al-Qaeda head Ayman al-Zawahiri.
There have also been numerous reports that al-Shabab may have formed some links with other militant groups in Africa, such as Boko Haram in Nigeria and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, based in the Sahara desert.
Al-Shabab debated whether to switch allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group after it emerged in January 2014.
It eventually rejected the idea, resulting in a small faction breaking away.
Al-Shabab has been described as the world’s largest and most effective jihadist group; almost half of all Islamist-related violence in Africa may be attributed to it, according to the US-based Africa Center for Strategic Studies.
Renewed international effort from western countries to support the African Union, Somalia and Kenya in their campaign against al-Shabaab is in effect an extension of their duty of care to their own populations, given the credible level of linked terrorist threat to migrant communities.
Last Week’s US Attack on Al-Shabab
Last week, the United States armed forces said it has killed 24 members of the al-Shabab armed group in an air strike carried out on Wednesday.
In a statement released on Thursday, the United States Africa Command said the strike took place on a camp near Shebeeley, Hiran region in central Somalia.
“Precision strikes are part of our strategy. Strikes continue to help our partners make progress in their fight against the transnational terrorists who oppose peace in Somalia and the region,” Director of US Africa Command Major General Gregg Olson said in the statement.
According to the press release, “no civilians were injured or killed in this airstrike”.
Formosa’s family reaction
In view of the presence of anti-migrant statements on social media in Malta, the family of the slain port manager issued a strong statement.
“My father was a good man – he helped the people of the countries he worked in, and offered them a liveable wage, the daughter of a Maltese man who was shot dead in Somalia told The Malta Independent.
Paul Formosa was shot and killed by Somalia’s al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group on Monday whilst working for a Dubai government-owned port operator in the country’s semi-autonomous Puntland region.
“My father was not in Somalia illegally. My father was not a businessman. My father was a worker. He was an employee. He was not there on holiday. He was there working hard for his family to provide a better life. He was dedicated to his work. He was there making sacrifices and he made the ultimate sacrifice for us,” his daughter Sarah said.
“No one chooses to go to Somalia, especially if it’s illegal for him to go. I also want to send a message to the keyboard warriors using my father to justify their racism. My father was a good man. He helped the people of the countries he worked in and offered them a liveable wage. The people coming here are escaping the people that killed my father. My father’s murder isn’t a justification for people to spew hatred and push their agenda. I appreciate it if you and other media respect the family at this tragic time.”
Sources Al Jazeera, BBC, Foreign Affairs Journal, CNN, Malta Independent
