In Context: Ethiopia Explosion Points to Al-Shabab

In Context: Ethiopia Explosion Points to Al-Shabab

Two men died in an explosion in Addis Ababa yesterday in what the Ethiopian government described as a failed attempt to build a suicide bomb. The government's claim that the two men were Somali nationals raises the specter of attacks by the militant group al-Shabab within Ethiopia.

According to Catherine Cheney's report for Trend Lines in the wake of last month's al-Shabab attack on a Kenyan mall, Ethiopia's military intervention into Somalia has made it a potential target for terrorism.

Ethiopia . . . has kept troops in Somalia near the Ethiopian border since 2006. "It's not clear how many troops they have, and they're not under the AMISOM mandate,” [Stratfor's Mark] Schroeder said. “Ethiopia operates in close coordination with AMISOM but as a unilateral force."

Kenya's lead role in the U.N.-mandated AMISOM mission has made it the prime target. But:

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