Wikileaks reveal US goverment discussing Al shabab/security

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Somalia - TFG minister of national security killed in suicide bombing: On the afternoon of June 18, Transitional Federal Government (TFG) Minister of National Security Omar Hashi was killed by a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device while in the Medina Hotel in Beletweyne. Former Somali Ambassador to Ethiopia Abdikarim Farah was also reported to be dead. Initial open source reports from a local hospital indicate the attack resulted in 20 casualties; later reporting shows more than 50 dead and 100 injured. No group has publicly claimed responsibility for the attack, but an intelligence report of limited credibility alleges al-Shabaab operatives are to blame.

13. (S//NF) DS/TIA/ITA notes this is first suicide attack in Beletweyne, and, if al-Shabaab operatives are indeed responsible, it further suggests the group is altering tactics in its fight against the TFG, specifically to incorporate the use of suicide operations. Recently received Ethiopian intelligence suggested al-Shabaab operatives were preparing to use a number of car bombs in suicide attacks against various targets in Mogadishu in late June.

14. (S//NF) Suicide bombs are increasingly common in Somalia. According to press reports, 30 lethal suicide bombings have occurred since five went off in October in Somaliland. Tearline from May 26 stated, &The Somali extremist group al-Shabaab employed the use of a suicide bomber against TFG soldiers in Mogadishu on May 24, resulting in at least six soldiers and one civilian killed. The attack was the first suicide attack against supporters of moderate Islamist President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.8 The death of Hashi in addition to the June 17 killing of Bandadir Region Police Chief Ali Said will likely demoralize and impair the struggling TFG in the near term, as could al-Shabaab,s possible increasing willingness and ability to utilize suicide attacks on TFG leadership in Somalia. (Open sources; Nairobi 1237; Appendix sources 3-6)