By Jared Kleinman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

MOGADISHU, Somalia – At least 21 people have died following the dual suicide car bombing at the African Union (AU) peacekeeper’s main base in the Somali capital, Mogadishu Thursday September 17th. Witnesses said the bombers entered the compound using two vehicles with United Nations markings and packed with explosives. Twelve Burundian, five Ugandan and four Somali soldiers are confirmed dead while 26 others who were injured seriously, were evacuated to Nairobi for treatment. Among the dead was Maj. Gen. Juvenal Niyonguruza, the Burundian deputy force commander. Thursday’s attack brings the total number of peacekeepers killed to 35 with Maj.-Gen Niyoyunguriza the highest ranking officer to be killed so far.

Al-Shabaab, the Islamist movement opposing Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG), has vowed to step up suicide attacks against foreign forces operating in the country. The Al-Shabaab group said these attacks were revenge for a US raid on Monday in which Kenyan-born al-Qaeda suspect Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan was killed. Earlier on Thursday, Al-Shabaab demanded that France ensure that AU forces are pulled out of Somalia. This was one of several demands issued by the group for the release of a French security adviser captured in July.

Al-Shabaab and its allies control most of southern and central Somalia, while the government, helped by the AU force, just runs parts of Mogadishu. Representative for Somalia, Mr Nicholas Bwakira, has urged the international community to play a bigger role in bringing the Somali instability to an end. “We need more superior weapons, human capacity and technical ability to wipe out the insurgents,” Mr Bwakira said. “Their presence in this country is not wanted,” he added.

The AU peace keepers were deployed in 2007 to guard the Presidential Palace, airport and seaport. Years of fighting and anarchy have left some three million people, more than half of the country’s population, dependent on humanitarian aid, with nearly 300,000 refugees crammed into a few square kilometers at the Dadaab camp in northeastern Kenya alone. Al-Shabaab wants foreign peacekeepers out of the country while Somalia’s TFG wants more foreign support. Should the AU forces leave, thousands of Somali’s will suffer with out the AU’s humanitarian aid. Should the AU forces stay and maintain their foreign fortification against the Al-Shabaab insurgents, Al-Shabaab will continue its attacks.

For more information, please see:

The East African – AU Troops Sitting Ducks – 21 September 2009

Impunity Watch – Somali Rebels Seek Foreign Reinforcements – 20 September 2009

Daily Nation – Death Toll from Militia Attack on AU Base Rises to 21 – 19 September 2009

BBC – AU urges more weapons for Somalia – 18 September 2009

BBC – Suicide blasts hit Somalia base – 17 September 2009