Brussels, 05/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - The EU has condemned the suicide attack, carried out by al-Shabaab , when a lorry packed with explosives, exploded outside a government ministry building in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. In a statement published in Wednesday 5 October, the spokesman for EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton expressed the high representative's distress at the suicide bomb attack that killed more than 60 people and wounded dozens more near the Ministry of Education and her sadness at learning that, among the many innocent victims, a number were students and parents who were waiting for results of scholarships.
“This attack, for which al-Shabaab has reportedly claimed responsibility, is the latest example of the suffering of the Somali people at the hands of a group of terrorists which refuses to engage in the peace process. The high representative recalls that the peace process was recently given a boost by the signature by the Transitional Federal Institutions and other Somali parties of a 'Roadmap for ending the transition'”, the statement says. Ashton encourages all parties in their efforts to implement this agreement and reaffirms the EU's support for a reform process that will bring peace to all of Somalia. She also “praises the commitment and bravery of the AMISOM troops who, together with the security forces of the Transitional Federal Government, took part in rescue operations following the attacks”. Al-Shabaab is preventing humanitarian aid getting through to the people in the six regions of Somalia currently suffering from famine. (AN/transl.rt)