MOGADISHU, SOMALIA – It is interesting that some terrorist attacks are carefully planned to include not one but several modes of operation at the same time.
Most acts of terrorism are not rocket science.
I mean, how hard is it to pick up a knife, or a sword or even a golf club and start swinging it at people? Any idiot can do that – and some have indeed been idiots! Take Rehab Dughmosh for instance (featured in the most recent Borealis Top Ten list).
Others are indeed complicated if for no other reason that they involve a more sophisticated device (an IED for instance). What these attacks demonstrate is that some thought was given to how to go about the plan and what the end goal was.
Then there are what are sometime referred to as ‘double tap‘ plots. These involve the use of one particular mode of attack followed quickly by a second one, often while first responders are trying to address the first one. Today’s featured incident is a good example.
On this day in 2018
Al Shabaab (AS) carried out a series of car bombs (3 at one time) in Mogadishu which killed at least 20 people: a fourth bomb went off as medics attempted to rescue injured people. Police then had to deal with four AS members who attempted to burst through a hole that one of the blasts opened in a wall of the Sahafi Hotel, which is frequented by government officials and appeared to be the main target of the attacks.
It acts as a government base.
AS statement justifying its move
One car bomb is enough to have to respond to. But four in quick succession? And gunmen? That speaks to planning, not something terrorists are always good at.
Read More Today in Terrorism
May 31, 1906: Spanish anarchist bombs royal wedding
On May 31, 1906 a Spanish anarchist threw a bomb hoping to hit King Alfonso XIII, killing 24 and wounding more than 100.
May 30, 2009: Anti-government group bombs TV station in Ecuador
On May 30, 2009 two pamphlet-bombs exploded outside an Ecuadorian TV station and ministry: no victims or significant damage ensued.
May 29, 2016: ISIS uses chlorine gas in terrorist attack
On May 29, 2016 35 civilians were wounded in an ISIS attack using rockets containing chlorine gas in Iraq’s Nineveh Province.
