The death toll from the truck bombings has risen to at least 40, but local and national authorities say the latest attacks from the al-Shabab group will not deter them from fighting the terrorists.
Security experts say Somalia’s government must focus on strengthening its security system to defeat the terrorist group al-Shabab. The latest intensified military offensive against the Islamist militant group sparked counter attacks from the group in the south and central regions of the country.
On Monday, Al-Shabab used at least two trucks and a small vehicle with three suicide bombers to target people in the central Somali city of Beledwayne, the Hiran province.
At least 40 people have died as a result of that attack. Nearly 100 others were injured. Those in critical conditions were flown to the capital Mogadishu.
The simultaneous blasts ripped through a military camp that hosts local government offices, shattering several neighborhoods and business places to the ground.
Residents in central Somalia spent hours digging through the rubble of collapsed buildings with their bare hands in search of dead bodies.
The Hawiye clans and sub-clans in central and southern Somalia have mobilized local militias with the help of the Somali government to fight the Al-Qaeda-linked al Shabab insurgents.
On October 1, the US Africa command said it had killed a senior Al-Shabaab leader, Abdullahi Yare with the coordination of the Somali government.
Recently elected President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has vowed to do all he can to eradicate al-Shabab.
Al-Shabab has waged a 15 -year-long insurrection against the government. In 2010, it was rooted out of the capital though it has continued to stage attacks there.
In May, US President Joe Biden agreed to return a US military presence to the fragile horn of Africa, having deemed his predecessor’s plans too risky and incomplete.
