AU says terror attacks won’t derail efforts to stabilize Somalia

The Africa Union envoy to Somalia on Sunday condemned Saturday’s terror attack in southern port city of Kismayo which left at least 16 people dead and 30 others injured.

The Special Representative of the Chairperson of the AU Commission (SRCC) for Somalia Maman Sidikou said the attacks on Somali army recruits at their training camp and others will not derail their efforts to stabilize the Horn of Africa nation.

“This barbaric act confirms that the aim of Al-Shabaab is to destroy and not to build. I commiserate with the families of those killed and wounded,” Sidikou said in a statement released in Mogadishu.

The AU envoy who is also the head of AMISOM described the attack as a heinous act, meant to derail the government’s efforts to build strong security institutions.

He said the attack has yet again robbed Somalia, which has been struggling to reconstruct, of some of the country’s most productive youths.

“To Al-Shabaab, I say, we will not relent. We will continue with the momentum to rebuild Somali National Army and other security institutions until the country becomes self-reliant in that regard,” Sidikou said.

A Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) was hurled in the compound where newly recruited soldiers are being trained in southern port city of Kismayo, killing several of them and injuring others.

Somali militants Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the latest attack after a few days lull in southern part of the country where Africa Union and Somali forces have intensified air strikes in the past weeks.