A Tragic Bombing at the Somali National Theater

Another suicide bombing by the Shabab militant group occurred Wednesday at the Somali National Theater.

It appears that, the more the Shabab lose ground to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), the more desperate the terrorist group becomes. In terrorist parlance, Wednesday’s blast targeted ‘a soft target’ for the extremist organization-- an unarmed civilian audience that was in the theater to celebrate what it saw as Mogadishu’s return to normalcy. After all, that same theater had been out of commission for over 20 years due to the civil war.

The Somali Prime Minister, Abdiwali Ali, and seven other ministers were at the theater when a female suicide bomber, strapped with explosives, detonated the bomb. The death toll was low but tragic nonetheless. Aden Yabarrow Wiish, President of the Somali Olympic Committee, and Said Mohamed Nur, Chairman of the Somali Football Federation, were among those dead.

The suicide bombing was a work of the Shabab because the terrorist group, in a Twitter message, took full responsibility for the heinous crime. “Everything was carefully planned and orchestrated,” read the message. But the Shabab claimed that the explosives had been planted in the theater in advance, hence, denying the fact that a female suicide-bomber was behind the attack. The denial is another attempt by the Shabab to conceal the fact that the militant group used a woman to execute the bombing. . The group has yet to assign its leaders to undertake these suicide bombings. It is always the poor youth who are assigned in these deadly missions.

The Prime Minister as a Primary Target
One of the main goals of the suicide mission was to take out the Prime Minister (PM) and several of his ministers. If successful, this would have effectively liquidated, for the first time, a high- profile member of the TFG. Fortunately, the attempt was unsuccessful. PM Abdiweli has been an irritating thorn in the flesh of the Shabab. Under his administration, the Shabab, once a solid front, increasingly became a tattered one, and the radical group began diminishing and retreating. One might argue that the major accomplishment of Abdiweli’s government has been the systematic eroding of the power of the Shabab which had Mogadishu a cauldron of violence. The group was eventually driven out of Mogadishu. To his credit, Abdiweli is not as ostentatious as his forerunner, Farmajo; the two are polar opposites. Abdiweli is a highly educated economist leading a battered country, and he takes a more goal-oriented approach than his predecessor. . He is not given to issuing loud proclamations nor does he engage in hectoring. He neither has Sado Ali, the famous Somali artist, singing for him nor does he receive laudatory coverage from the renowned cartoonist, Amin Amir. Perhaps, what Somalia needs at this juncture is not a politician who is adept with slogans, and powerful performance at mass rallies, but instead a leader who sets goals and follows them. The country had, for over 20 years, empty promises and dashed hopes. In essence, there had been too much focus on flamboyance and less emphasis on concrete plans with a deadline for fulfillment.

The Roadmap, though possessing generic flaws, has obviously been a glimmer of hope. There has been a semblance of agreement among some of the main Somali regions to determine the future of the national government and end the perpetual transition that the country has become accustomed to. The more there is progress seen in reconciliation among Somali regions the more the Shabab become unsettled. Any attempt to form a national government means a successful encroachment on the terrorist organization that still controls parts of the country. The TFG, for the last several months, has been busy meeting the benchmarks of the Roadmap. The draft constitution is in the throes of discussion and ultimately will be ratified by a national constitutional assembly, a new parliament is due to be sworn in June, and finally a new federal government afterwards. These benchmarks, though challenging, were unthinkable not long ago in a country that had been engulfed by civil war for many years.

Normalcy has begun to settle on Mogadishu after the expulsion of the Shabab. Many Somalis have been returning to the capital, business has been booming, and an element of optimism has been rising to the surface in the capital. But the Shabab has a long history of sketching a future of unremitting violence.
Security Breach
The recent blast exposed a glaring security breach in the Somali government. How did a suicide bomber manage to come close to the very podium on which the PM was speaking? There is no convincing explanation for that security violation. The breach was a manifestation of a chronic weakness in the government’s security apparatus. It is the same old story; a Shabab suicide-bomber makes headway in a gathering attended by cabinet ministers, and, then, boom! Two years ago, four government ministers and many graduating students met a grim fate after a terrorist detonated a bomb at Hotel Shamow. A year later, a female suicide bomber killed the former Interior Minister in his house. And now, there has been a blast at the National Theater. It is apparent that the TFG cannot sufficiently protect its officials. The security failure is an indication that every time the government takes two steps forward, it takes one step backward in insuring safety for its representatives. It is no secret that although the Shabab militants have withdrawn from Mogadishu, the group still maintains an active network of spies in the capital, and in the government circles. . Unfortunately, many Mogadishu residents, though pleased with the overall improvement of safety in the city, have come to the realization that attending public gatherings is a risky act that can mean their doom.
Conspiracy Theories Abound
The recent blast, some of the conspiracy theories profess, is the work of President Sheikh Sharif. Or the Interior Minister. Or the Mayor of Mogadishu. All three of these officials, you might notice, did not attend the gathering at the National Theater. Thus, they must be behind the blast to eliminate the PM.

It is heartbreaking to hear these preposterous claims, not from laypersons, but from some educated individuals.

The only group that has promiscuous use of suicide bombing in Somalia is the Shabab. The tactic was introduced to the country by the Shabab and it is still solely used by the group. The fact that the Shabab took full responsibility for the grisly attack at the theater makes of all these conspiracy theories ridiculous. Both the president and the mayor of Mogadishu, like most politicians, love public gatherings where they are naturally at the center stage, but none of them is stupid enough to orchestrate a criminal and violent act like the one perpetrated at the National Theater.

Fortunately, the recent blast, though tragic, is nothing but a hiccup in the slow but steady progress Somalia has recently made. Perhaps, it will provide a lesson for many that the road to progress is strewn with setbacks. The process of reforming the country, indeed, is daunting but Mogadishu residents will remain undaunted in sustaining the current positive changes.