The double car bomb attack at the Somali Ministry of Education that took place this Saturday killed at least 100 people in Mogadishu. The European Union “strongly condemns” this attack, and denounces “the barbarism of the Shebab group against its own people”.
The EU “strongly condemns” the double car bomb attack that killed at least 100 people on Saturday in Somalia, Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said on Sunday, reaffirming Europeans’ determination to fight terrorism. The attack, committed on a busy artery in the center of the capital Mogadishu, “only reminds us of the barbarism of the Al-Shabaab group against its own people and reveals the true hypocrisy of its intentions”, Borrell said in a press release. .
A double attack on the Ministry of Education
This latest attack in the country, which targeted the Somali Ministry of Education and was blamed by the government on jihadists, “only reinforces our commitment to stand with the Somali people and hold those responsible for these cowardly and deadly attacks to be held to account,” he added. “Our resolve and our determination to fight terrorism and defeat Al-Shabaab have never been higher,” Borrell said.
The Islamist group, linked to Al-Qaeda, has been fighting the federal government supported by the international community since 2007. It has been driven out of major cities – including Mogadishu in 2011 – but remains firmly entrenched in large rural areas and regularly carries out attacks in major cities. “After the horrific attack that cost so many lives in Mogadishu, the EU reaffirms its role as an unwavering supporter of the state-building process in Somalia, and as a partner for peace and security” in the region, indicated for his part on Twitter the President of the European Council Charles Michel.
The EU is notably present in Somalia via the EUTM-S Training Mission, which aims to strengthen the Transitional Federal Government by providing military advice and training the Somali army. An EUTM-S military convoy was attacked by Al-Shabaab insurgents in the capital in September 2019.