Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Mogadishu (Agenzia Fides) - The Shabaab have claimed responsibility for the mortar bombing of the hospital located at the Mogadishu Airport, also site of the headquarters of the African peacekeeping force AMISOM (African Union Mission in Somalia). The number of victims from the attack, which occurred yesterday afternoon (January 25), is still undetermined. According to local sources, the deaths of a Ugandan soldier of the AMISOM, as well as some Somali civilians - at least three or four (many are women and children, waiting in line for their doctor's visit) - have been confirmed.
"The Somalis are held hostage, on the one hand, by the various transitional governments that have been established in recent years with very little results and on the other, by traditional tribal divisions, which in recent times has seen the addition of the fundamentalist ideology of the Shabaab," Bishop Giorgio Bertin of Djibouti, Apostolic Administrator of Mogadishu, tells Fides. "The Somalis would give their support to anyone who could guarantee a minimum of security and would even be willing to give up a large part of their civil rights, just to have a minimum of peace. That is why they initially supported the Shabaab movement, because where they took control they imposed a minimum of order. In recent months, especially after the bombing on December 3 during a ceremony for the handing-over of diplomas, in which some Ministers were killed (see Fides 3/12/2009), this consensus has been greatly reduced. I fear that the public is now willing to surrender to anyone who proves to be able to control the territory."
On Wednesday, January 25, the European Union approved the program for training in Uganda of 2,000 Somali soldiers by 200 European instructors, to reinforce the army of the transitional government of Somalia. Several thousand Somali soldiers have already been trained in previous programs.
"The problem of Somali soldiers trained abroad starts when they come back to Somalia, as they do not receive monthly pay, says Bishop Bertin. “I do not know if this is due to disorganization or the fact that soldiers' salaries are written off by someone. What happens is that soldiers who have not been paid end up joining the various militias or the Shebaab, or sell their weapons to the highest bidder. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a system to verify the payment of military salaries, otherwise the efforts of the international community for their training will be useless," concluded Bishop Bertin. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 26/1/2010)
