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Al-Shabab suicide bomber kills 11 in Somalia; Christians in danger

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A suicide bomber from Al-Shabaab, a terror group affiliated with Al-Qaeda, killed at least 11 people in the Somalian capital city of Mogadishu on September 14, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Posing a major threat to Christians in Somalia, Al-Shabaab is a jihadist terror group whose goal is to overthrow the internationally-supported government and impose its violent brand of extremist Islam on the whole of Somalia.

Although international coalition forces have fought against Al-Shabaab in Somalia, the group is expanding and has retained control of much of the country’s southern and central regions, ICC reports. The terror organization’s grip on Somalia has resulted in the killings of thousands of civilians, and the country’s tiny Christian population face a continual threat of violence and murder.

“Al-Shabaab expansion has made Somalia a region of terror for Christians, a closed country where Islamic extremists circulate freely, and the church operates in secret,” ICC said in its report. “Christians make up only 0.33% of the population and conversion means certain death or other forms of extreme violence or torture. Somali Christians keep their faith concealed as Al-Shabaab desires to eradicate all believers from the country,” ICC said.

On September 14, the suicide terrorist walked into a tea shop in Mogadishu’s Wadajir district and detonated an explosive vest with devastating consequences, Voice of America reported. In a Twitter post, the prime minister of Somalia, Mohamed Hussein Roble, said: “I condemn today’s bombing by al-Shabab terrorists at a tea shop in Wadajir district, which resulted in the death and injury of innocent people. May God have mercy on the dead and heal the wounded.”

Calling for prayer into the situation, ICC said in its report: “Please join us in praying for Somalia, as well as the surrounding nations subject to attacks by the Al-Shabaab terrorist group. Please also pray for those who persecute the church, that they would experience the true repentance and love that comes only through Jesus Christ.”