Terrorism has now become so pervasive that it is a global problem and even countries with large military might are finding it difficult to contain this ever rising menace to peace and stability.
There are many young disaffected people around the world who have no compunction about inflicting unspeakable harm on innocent unsuspecting people in order to make a point. It is all part of the dogma of a growing insidious and intolerant political culture.
It is a phenomenon that has to be confronted at all costs before it consumes us because militants have sworn to take it global. On Sunday, twin explosions at All Saint’s [Christian] Church in Pakistan killed 78 people, including children and women.
Police confirmed that the first attack happened when services had finished and people were leaving the church. The suicide bomber tried to attack the people, but when he was stopped by the police he detonated the bomb. The second blast was carried out inside the church.
The two bombers detonated their explosive vests within an interval of 30 seconds after entering the church. Markets and shops in the locality closed down as tension and panic gripped the area after the incident.
Moreover, enraged protestors took to the streets and set ablaze the belongings of the police personnel who were deputed at the church for security. All Saints Church reportedly resembles a mosque and has served as a symbol of peace and harmony.
On Saturday, in Kenya, masked gunmen stormed a packed upmarket shopping mall, part-Israeli-owned, in the capital Nairobi, killing 39 people and wounding 150 more in a massacre claimed by Somalia’s al Qaeda-inspired Shebab rebels.
The rebels said the carnage was in retaliation for Kenya’s military intervention in Somalia, where African Union (AU) troops are battling the militants. Police sources described the attackers as a well organized “terror gang” numbering around ten.
Shebab said it had “on numerous occasions warned the Kenyan government that failure to remove its forces from Somalia would have severe consequences”. It accused the government of turning a deaf ear to its repeated warnings and continued massacre of innocent Muslims there.
Kenyan forces entered Somalia two years ago to fight the Shebab, and remain in the country as part of an AU force that is supporting Somalia’s internationally-backed government.
It is clear therefore that Kenya’s security is tied to that of Somalia and every country needs to boost its security to eradicate the global threat of terrorism, whose modus operandi spares neither women nor children.
This explains Kenyans’ support for the new European Union initiative unveiled in Brussels last week aimed at stabilizing Somalia after decades of civil wars that have all too often spilled over the border into Kenya.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the attack, saying it was a “premeditated act, targeting defenceless civilians, and was totally reprehensible”. We, too, can only hope the perpetrators will be brought to justice swiftly.
