Jihadists claim suicide attack on Somali PM

Now Somalia, with its short-lived Islamic regime hiding in the hinterlands, is "occupied." "Islamist militants claim suicide attack on Somali PM," by y Guled Mohamed for Reuters, with thanks to all who sent this in:

MOGADISHU, June 4 (Reuters) - A militant Islamist group on Monday claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb that killed seven people at the home of Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi, vowing to continue attacks until "occupiers" left Somalia.

Gedi -- who has now survived four attempts on his life in the last two years -- blamed al Qaeda for the Sunday night blast at his compound in north Mogadishu.

"We can no longer cohabit with these terrorists. ... We have to eliminate them," he told local radio.

Five soldiers and two civilians died when the bomber detonated a vehicle rigged with explosives at the gates of his large compound in a heavily guarded northern neighbourhood. African Union peacekeepers raced in to whisk him to safety.

A group calling itself the Mujahideen Youth Movement said in a statement on the Internet that "a lion ... our brave brother Abdul-Aziz Mohammad Semter ... carried out a heroic martyrdom operation at the residence of the apostate prime minister."

It added: "Your brethren at the Mujahideen Youth Movement are pressing on with their holy fight against all occupiers and apostates." The statement could not be immediately verified but was on a site used by al Qaeda and other Islamist militants.

Posted by Robert at June 4, 2007 1:35 PM
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