IT was hardly surprising there was no immediate terrorist claim for the enormity of the attack in the Somali capital Mogadishu. Yet there is little doubt that the truck bomb which slew more than 300 people and seriously injured hundreds more, was the work of the brutal Al-Shabaab group an open ally of Al-Qaeda.
If for one moment the terrorists hesitated to admit that they caused such carnage, it has to be wondered why they mounted the deadly operation in the first place. Driving a vehicle laden with a huge quantity of explosives surrounded by nails and other mini missiles into a crowded public space was always going to cause major devastation. The Somali authorities say that this was the largest blast ever staged by Al-Shabaab. It certainly caused the greatest-ever number of dead and injured.
There is only one word to describe this crime — which is “nihilist”. No one who had any humanity, any decent standards and any genuine ambitions to create a better society, could have put their hand to such an infamous deed. The Islamist cause to which the terrorists lay claim, in Somalia, as with Daesh (the self-proclaimed IS) in Syria and Iraq and in Nigeria with Boko Haram, is stained beyond cleansing by the unremitting hatred the attackers show toward those who stand in their way. Islam is a religion of justice and peace. Al-Shabaab has nothing to do with Islam.
These nihilist terrorists actually believe that life is meaningless. A better demonstration of this ghastly precept could not be found than among the shattered bodies and buildings in Mogadishu this week. Moreover, nihilists reject all religious and moral principles. They disdain those who believe in defending the value of human life. Their goal is destruction for destruction’s sake. They see no higher cause than their perverted principles. They are driven by their insane bigotry. Indeed looking at the terrible crimes they have committed, these terrorists seem to be madmen.
How could anybody with the basic human responses to the gurgling of a baby, the laughter of a child, the smiles of friends, the dedication to an honest working life even in the massively challenging circumstances that face Somalis, how could anybody plan and execute such butchery of innocents? Don’t these creatures have wives and children? Don’t they have revered families? Don’t they have valued friends? How can anyone but the clinically insane throw aside the basic values of everyday life and indulge in such mass murder?
But even from a bloodbath as extensive and disgusting as the Mogadishu truck bombing, some good can emerge. There has been complete revulsion among Somalis. Angry demonstrators have taken to the streets to condemn in no uncertain terms the mindless barbarity of the terrorist killers. And internationally there has been widespread condemnation of this atrocity. It must be hoped that the catastrophic consequences of this blast will concentrate the minds of the international community so that it redoubles its efforts to restore Somalia’s shattered fortunes and assists in crushing the terrorists. When all is said and done, the killers of Al-Shabaab are a vicious and deluded minority. Sure they can spread terror among decent people, but in doing so they also spread the knowledge of precisely what sort of a pitiless world Somalis would live in if ever they managed to seize power.
