Another cowardly attack in Somalia

The terrorist bombing that took place in Mogadishu on Saturday, killing and wounding scores of innocent people, is another cowardly and disgusting act which implies that the international community needs to redouble efforts to eradicate terrorism.

"What the Al Shabaab extremist group, which claimed responsibility for the attack, does not understand is that it is bound to fail and will be held accountable for its dastardly actions. The entire world is united and determined more than ever now to root out the scourge of terrorism," said The Gulf Today in an editorial on Monday.

"The latest attack has come just two weeks after Somalia suffered its deadliest-ever terrorist attack in which at least 358 people were killed in a huge truck bombing in Mogadishu.

After the ruthless 14th October terror bombing, Somalis sent a strong message of unity by marching in the thousands through Mogadishu in defiance of Al Shabaab. This has visibly rattled the terrorist group, which is trying to instil fear in the minds of ordinary Somalis through more cowardly attacks. But such barbaric tactics will just not work," the editorial continued.

"If at all anything, such brutal killings of innocent people would only unite Somali people and the entire world more strongly and prompt sterner actions to eliminate the evil of terrorism forever from Earth.

While Shabaab militants instantly claimed responsibility for the latest attack, they did not have the guts to do so for the 14th October bombing as the toll was too high. Shabaab terrorists, who earlier controlled almost all of southern Somalia, are already facing fire.

The US military has stepped up military efforts against Al Shabaab this year carrying out as much as 20 drone strikes as the global war on extremism moves deeper into the African continent.

The UAE has always remained a true friend of Somalia and has been extending assistance to the brotherly nation at the time of need. As per the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, several Somalis who were wounded in the earlier terrorist explosion in Mogadishu have been transported abroad to receive treatment.

A medical aircraft equipped with the latest medical tools transported the Somalis, who are suffering from serious injuries, to Kenya while accompanied by Emirati doctors.

Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has sent out a strong message to extremists that 'such atrocities will neither deter nor discourage our will to fight the terrorists.' All peace-loving nations stand in total solidarity with Somalia in its fight against extremism," the Sharjah-based newspaper concluded.