Somali bomber from Germany?
July 28, 2015
A senior Somali security official said on Tuesday that an initial report indicated "the high possibility that a German national of Somali origin drove the truck that rammed into the hotel."
Western investigators are now reportedly helping Somali security officials to analyze the DNA of the attacker.
However, a report from news agency DPA suggested that the suspected attacker had dual Libyan-Somali citizenship, but no German passport despite residing in the central European country until roughly 2012. The information stemmed from an anonymous German security official.
At least 15 people were killed and another 35 wounded in Sunday's blast which ripped an outer wall from the six-storey Jazeera Palace Hotel in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu.
The hotel was popular among government officials and foreign visitors and housed three diplomatic missions, including China's.
German news magazine "Spiegel" also reported on Tuesday that the bomber had lived in the western German city of Bonn before moving back to Somalia some time ago.
"His relatives knew about his presence in Somalia for the past several years and he fought alongside Shabab," a government source said.
Hopes for anti-terrorism bill
Dual nationality Somalis have been known to carry out several suicide bombings in recent years. In a similar attack in February, a Dutch-Somali man and woman blew themselves up at Mogadishu's Central Hotel, killing at least 25 people.
The al Qaeda-affiliated Shabab is fighting to overthrow Mogadishu's Western-backed government and has a long history of attracting radicalized members of Somalia's far-flung population, as well as foreign fighters. The rise of the "Islamic State" ("IS") and other newly-dominant jihadi groups, however, has recently overshadowed the group's appeal.
'More work to do'
Following Sunday's attack, Somali Security Minister Abdirisak Omar Mohamed called on the country's parliament to approve a new anti-terrorism bill to place more emphasis on the fight against al-Shabab. The law is also expected to give new powers to the security agencies.
Despite being introduced by the former cabinet last year, the anti-terrorism bill still needs approval from parliament.
Speaking during his four-day visit to eastern Africa on Monday, US President Barack Obama praised neighboring Ethiopia for its efforts in fighting al-Shabab, adding that Sunday's Somali truck bombing served as a reminder that "we have more work to do" in stemming regional terrorism.
ksb/kms (AFP, dpa)