Residents of Somalia’s capital city today, 14th October are remembering the nearly 600 victims of a terror attack on the third anniversary of the bombings.
Many Somali people gathered at a new memorial to mark the 5th anniversary of the attack with prayers for the lost 587 people.
Memories of the bombing are still raw in a country that has faced decades of deadly warlord-led chaos and attacks by the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab. Oct. 14, 2017, bombing was so devastating that al-Shabab never claimed responsibility amid local outrage.
The security experts called it “the deadliest ever terrorist attack in Africa, and such terrorist attacks amount to a war crime.”
Somalia’s government declared Oct. 14 as a national day to remember victims of all “terrorist” bombings across the Horn of Africa nation.
Somalis now look to the future with a mixture of sorrow and hope.
Many believe the global attention to the attack and outpouring of grief should bring much-needed assistance for the fragile central government and security forces, who in the next few years are expected to take over the country’s security from African Union peacekeepers.
The United States has targeted al-Shabab with dozens of airstrikes and increased its military presence in Somalia since early 2017 to about 500 personnel.