| At least it wasn't the Conflict Resolution Workshop. I don't think I coulda stood that... |
“The explosion happened as some government officials were passing, but they survived. However, two civilians were killed on the spot,” Mr Abdullahi Hassan Bariise, Somali police head of operations, said. Monday’s blast -the latest in a string of guerrilla-style strikes against the interim government and its Ethiopian military allies – came when an unknown attacker detonated a landmine by remote control as government vehicles passed. Abdifatah Ibrahim Omar, Mogadishu’s deputy mayor in charge of security, said two children were wounded in the explosion which missed its intended target. It was unclear if those two were the victims later confirmed dead by police.
Five suspects had been arrested. Witness Abdullahi Yere, who was standing outside his nearby house, said there were many government troops in the area when the explosion ripped through an intersection, Mr Omar said. “I heard a loud explosion that shook the whole ground near me. I saw a burning car thrown high in the sky by the intensity of the explosion,” Yere said.
Insurgents from a militant Islamist movement ousted from Mogadishu routinely attack government soldiers and their Ethiopian backers, and have increasingly used Iraq-style tactics including assassinations, suicide bombings and roadside blasts.
The reconciliation conference, which many diplomats say is the interim governmentÂ’s best chance to boost its legitimacy and quell the violence, was due to be held last week at a rundown and bullet-scared former police compound. But the government postponed it for a second time, saying some clans had asked for more time to
A security source, speaking anonymously, said the explosion was an insurgent move to “edge closer to the venue of the reconciliation conference.” He added: “This is a message they are trying to convey to the government, warning the government against the proposed reconciliation meeting.” Security experts and diplomats say poor security in Mogadishu and the threat of insurgent attacks targeting the conference necessitated its delay to July 18.