Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham is quoted by PBS Newshour on a bombing in Somalia by Al Shabaab that killed ten last Friday:
Last week a remote-controlled bomb exploded in a Mogadishu restaurant, killing at least 10 people, The New York Times reported. Al-Shabab is believed to have carried out that attack as well.
While al-Shabab continues to be active in Somalia, it has also redefined itself as a transnational organization. Following the Kenyan mall attack, The Atlantic Council’s J.Peter Pham joined the PBS NewsHour to discuss the growing strength of al-Shabab. Pham said the Kenyan attack was “the first salvo of the group in its new incarnation as a transnational group attracting people not just from Somali backgrounds, but other backgrounds, and fighting as the regional affiliate of al-Qaida that it formally became a year ago.”