Mogadishu, Somalia – A veiled woman and two other suicide bombers exploded cars outside the base of Somalia’s weak government Thursday, killing eight people after Ethiopia took another step toward war with its Islamic rivals in the country.
Somalia’s interim government blamed foreign al-Qaeda fighters for the attack, which was believed to be only the second suicide bombing ever in the country.
The attack had the hallmarks of an al-Qaeda operation. Suicide bombings carried out by multiple attackers have been widely used by Islamic extremists in Iraq and Afghanistan, both battlegrounds for al-Qaeda, and terror leader Osama bin Laden has declared Somalia to be a battleground in his war against the West.
Deputy Defense Minister Salad Ali Jelle said the bombers detonated their explosives as police tried to inspect their vehicles at a government checkpoint outside Baidoa, the only town the government controls.
Jelle said the dead included two policemen, as well as the three drivers and three accomplices. He said there were non- Somalis among the dead, whom he called “al-Qaeda supporters.” Four civilians were wounded.
A policeman at the scene, Mohammed Ahmed Mohamud, told The Associated Press that three men were captured at the checkpoint who appeared to be African but were not Somali. There have been numerous reports of foreign Islamic radicals coming to Somalia to join the fighting.
There was no claim of responsibility for the attack.
The Islamic movement that controls most of southern Somalia denied it was behind the bombing. “Terrorism is not our principle, and we have nothing to do with what has happened,” said movement spokesman Mohamed Ibrahim Bilaal.
Tensions are high in this Horn of Africa nation where the Islamic courts movement and the Ethiopia-backed transitional government are vying for control. The Islamic group has been steadily gaining ground since seizing the capital of Mogadishu in June, while a confidential U.N. report obtained recently said there were up to 8,000 Ethiopian troops in the country supporting the government.
Ethiopia, a largely Christian nation, fears the emergence of a neighboring Islamic state and has acknowledged sending military advisers to help the Somali government.
Earlier Thursday, Ethiopia’s parliament authorized military action if attacked by the Islamic movement, which has declared holy war on Ethiopia over its troop incursions.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told lawmakers that the country had already suffered attacks on their soil by insurgent groups working with bitter rival Eritrea and the Islamic forces in Somalia. The resolution authorized “any lawful or constitutional measures necessary to counter and stand up to any attacks or incursions on or into Ethiopia.”
