The detonation of a truck loaded with drums of fuel in downtown
Mogadishu on Tuesday that
killed 70 people is raising concerns that al-Qaeda-linked terrorists
in Somalia remain a potent force. The truck bomb blew up outside a
government building
and among those killed were students taking exams in
the hopes of receiving scholarships to study abroad. Al-
Shabab militants claimed responsibility for what is their
deadliest attack yet in Somalia. "It is the worst tragedy I have ever
seen in the capital,"
Ali Muse, chief of Mogadishu's ambulance service, said. U.S. officials
and analysts say elements of al-Shabab pose a
global threat because of its links to al-Qaeda, particularly
the affiliate based in Yemen, and its Islamic jihad aims. Army Gen.
Carter Ham, head of U.S. Africa Command, said
Tuesday that a branch of al-Shabab is "concentrated on
exporting violence" regionally and to European and U.S.
interests. "I would say at the very least al-Shabab is holding their
own and maybe in some cases growing," Ham said.
"They're certainly not diminishing." Al-Shabab has operated in a
virtually lawless Somalia where a weak central government
has struggled to exert control over large parts of the country. But
al-Shabab was dealt a blow in August when it retreated from Mogadishu
under
pressure from African Union troops, which supported the United
Nations-backed government. The militant group pledged to continue
attacks in Mogadishu despite the withdrawal. The
group has also disrupted international efforts to help with the
country's devastating
famine. Experts and U.S. officials say the group also has broader
aspirations. Its propaganda has
grown more sophisticated in recent years, as they attempt to draw
recruits and funds from
outside the region. "They're trying to reach out to an
English-speaking audience," said Evan Kohlmann, a terrorism expert who
has worked for the FBI and other organizations. "They aspire to be
like al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula," he said, referring to the
Yemen-
based group that had planned attacks on the United States. Last week a
drone strike killed Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen. Al-Shabab and the
Yemen-based
group had established ties. "It remains now to see how that unfolds
with the demise of Awlaki," Ham said of links
between the two groups.