Somaliland is still in a state of shock from Wednesday's three coordinated suicide car bombings. Although investigation into the premeditated mass-murder is still continuing, preliminary indications show that the military wing of the Islamic Courts (al-Shabab) were behind it. That the Islamic Courts would attack Somaliland should come as no surprise to anyone since they have made it clear many times that they are planning to do exactly that, i.e., attack Somaliland, and we have regularly discussed here the serious threat extremists pose to Somaliland. In other words, it was always a question of not if they will attempt to attack but when and where. The attacks, however, seem to have taken Somaliland 's security forces by surprise. The suicide bombers even made it to the presidential palace and the damage could have been much worse had they not run into a car that was parked there.

According to Somaliland's officials, the suicide bombers were sent from Mogadishu . But it is highly unlikely the attackers would have been able to execute their mission without the help of native Somalilanders. Which means that Somaliland is facing two problems at the same time: how to prevent its infiltration by southern terrorists and how to dismantle the local network of Somalilanders who are aiding and abetting the terrorists. Neither task will be easy since Somaliland 's borders remain porous and some of these networks are in the form of sleeper cells. But at least one unintended benefit that came out of the brief period when the Islamic Courts were in power in Mogadishu was that some of the terrorist sympathizers felt at the time bold enough to remove their cover and reveal their allegiance to the Islamic Courts, and as a result their identities are now known.

The cold-blooded massacre of 23 people and the wounding of 28 has completely changed the situation in Somaliland , and the public is currently so angry with religious extremists and their sympathizers, there is a real possibility that people may take the law into their own hands and retaliate against suspected terrorists. Now that a huge majority is behind it on this issue, the government must make bold and methodical moves to defeat terrorists and destroy their networks. In addition to being on the offensive, Somaliland must also take some defensive action such as improved intelligence gathering and upgrading the security of public buildings and officials. The international community must do its part too before Somaliland becomes another Somalia .

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