Suicide bombers attacked the main peacekeeping base in Somalia’s capital, killing at least three Somali security officers near where army commander Gen. Katumba Wamala was.
Reports quoting Brig. Sam Okiding, the outgoing commander in charge of the Ugandan contingent in Somalia indicated that all the attackers in the car were put out of action.
Gen. Katumba had just landed at Aden Adde International Airport, Mogadishu on Monday when one blast took place as security forces were searching cars at a checkpoint a few hundred meters from the main base of the African Union peacekeeping force, AMISOM.
Several bullets were fired into the air a few meters at around midday yesterday outside the meeting venue where Gen. Katumba was addressing senior Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) officers attached to AMISOM.
Unknown to Gen. Katumba who is the war-torn country for three days to oversee the handover of authority to Andrew Mwenda’s brother and new Somalia commander Brig. Kayanja Muhanga, the militants had been spotted around the facility and the bullets were warning shots fired by the UPDF soldiers that the enemy was in the area.
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Abdur Razak Tuurare, a Mogadishu-based journalist, said with in seconds, the meeting ended and the UPDF soldiers walked out in an unusual rush.
But before they could grasp where the attackers where, a huge blast rocked the area, smashing some of the windows of the building where Gen. Katumba had been holding the meeting.
The blast sent the officers who were at the venue scampering for their dear lives.
State owned NewVision said that the UPDF officers, who were on parade after mounting a guard of honour for Katumba abandoned it and ran in disarray, with some looking for their guns to face off with the attackers.
In the confusion, Gen. Katumba was evacuated to one of the nearby offices with a reinforced roof and its doors closed before before heavily armed UPDF officers surrounded all its entrances.
Witnesses said a second explosion and heavy gunfire could be heard at the checkpoint after the attack.
The powerful blasts damaged the front of the nearby Hotel Peace were Katumba was, though there were no immediate reports of casualties there. The burned-out shell of one of the wrecked vehicles lay outside.
Reports say that after the blast, a deadly silence swept the area before news started pouring in about the attack.
A UPDF solider who preferred not to be named for security reasons said that after the bullets were fired, him and fellow Ugandan soldiers manning the gates at the facility spotted the vehicle which the militants had filled with explosives heading towards them, before open fire towards it, blowing it into flames with anti-tank missiles. Reports quoting Brig. Sam Okiding, the outgoing commander in charge of the Ugandan contingent in Somalia indicated that all the attackers in the car were put out of action.
In an interview with John Semakula after the incident, Katumba said the attacks happen in Mogadishu all the time and could not deter him form proceeding with the mission that had taken him to Somalia.
“The attacks here are life threatening and bullet sounds are almost a cup of tea but our troops are alert,” Gen. Katumba said.
The contingent spokesperson, Maj. Robert Kamara said that although there was no proof that the militants were targeting Gen. Katumba, but the possibility could not be ruled out as Ugandan soldiers are continuously spied on and attacked in Somalia.
Al-Shabab spokesman Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab said the fighters had intended to attack the intruding Ugandans and other foreigners seeking a solution to Somalia’s decades-long turmoil.
Somalia’s capital has seen frequent bomb attacks at hotels and military checkpoints with al-Shabab – which wants to topple the Museveni-backed government – often claiming responsibility.
Despite being ousted by UPDF forces from most of its key strongholds across large parts of south and central Somalia, the al-Qaeda-linked group continues to wage deadly attacks across the country.
