Al-Shabab uses North Korean missile to attack UN compound in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Somalia-based Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab militants used a North Korea missile in an attack at a United Nations compound in Somalia earlier this year, the UN Panel of experts has said, a sign that the two parties could be having an arms deal contrary to international conventions.

The militants, who have been wreaking havoc in the Horn of Africa nation, executed six attacks near the Aden Adde International Airport within the Somali capital between February and May and targeted heavily fortified Halane Base Camp.

According to the experts' report, one of the attacks involved four 60-mm mortar rounds that were fired in the direction of the U.N. compound within Aden Adde International Airport on Feb. 17, the U.N. Panel of Experts on Somalia said in a final report dated Sept. 28.

"Two unexploded 60-mm mortar rounds [were] found in the aftermath of the attack on 17 February 2020. One has characteristics consistent with a 60-mm HE type 63 mortar round, manufactured in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," the panel said in a report posted on the U.N. website, using North Korea's official name.

The report suggested that the communist state may be in contact with Al-Shabaab and have traded in arms, something which might evoke further sanctions against Pyongyang's leadership. The Al-Shabaab has been fighting to topple the feeble UN-backed Somalia administration.

"It is the consistent stance of the government of the DPRK to oppose terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and any support to it," an unidentified North Korean diplomat said in a U.N. session earlier in October.

In June, the U.S. State Department said North Korea has failed to take action to address historical support for acts of international terrorism. The United States first designated North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1988 for its 1987 bombing of a South Korean airliner that killed all 115 people aboard.

Washington removed Pyongyang from its list in 2008 in exchange for progress in denuclearization talks. In 2017, the U.S. redesignated North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism after determining that the North Korean government "repeatedly" provided support for acts of international terrorism.

Al-Shabaab mainly collects revenue in form of Zakat and has often abducted foreigners for ransom, which helps them to run activities across the country. The group controls large swathes of rural central and southern Somalia, but have been ceding grounds due to continuous military operations.

There are close to 7,000 active Al-Shabaab fighters in the country according to investigations done by the United Nations. The African Union and the US have deployed soldiers to the country, who are credited for neutralizing the militants.

GAROWE ONLINE