Suicide attack at Mogadishu airport narrowly fails

(BRUXELLES2) Mogadishu airport narrowly escaped a suicide attack on Thursday, on the eve of Aid. A suicide squad from El Shabab (which claims to be part of Al Qaeda) tried to force entry to the airport in the Somali capital on Wednesday afternoon. This attack was foiled reports the command of AMISOM - the African Union peacekeeping forces - deployed in Somalia. Two vehicles showed up at one of the entrances. A first exploded, about 500 meters from the terminal. At least 2 AMISOM sentries have been killed, and a third injured. The second vehicle then attempted to force entry but did not explode. He was stopped. The passengers left their vehicles and ran on foot towards the terminal under fire from AMISOM soldiers. 200 meters from the terminal, they blew up their jackets stuffed with explosives. At least one employee (of an African airline) was killed. Other civilian victims could be deplored; the AFP correspondent on the spot saw two dead bodies of civilians. The 5 assailants are all dead. This attack occurred at a key moment, when the Somali president of the transitional government ended a meeting with international plenipotentiaries, including the special envoys of the UN and the African Union for Somalia.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)