Mogadishu — In reaction to the suicide commando attack on the Somali parliament building at the weekend, Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed declared an “all-out war” against al-Shabaab.
“I order the Somali National Army to ‘move now’ to eliminate the enemy wherever they are in the country — we must eradicate this enemy from our country,” he said in a press conference Saturday (May 24th) after the attack.
“We cannot tolerate that the enemy carries out such attacks on our people — we must all take part in the war,” Ahmed said, urging the Somali people to help the army eliminate the enemy.
Al-Shabaab’s attack on the parliament building was planned similarly to previous attacks on Villa Somalia, the United Nations compound and Mogadishu’s main court complex.
Shortly before noon Saturday, the group set off a car bomb outside the front gate of the parliament building, then gunmen wearing suicide vests stormed into the complex, where more than 150 lawmakers were in session.
A string of smaller blasts and gunfire could be heard from inside as Somali security forces and African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops fought off the commandos for more than four hours before bringing the firefight to an end…
South Africa Today – Africa News – Somalia 
