Saturday, May 31, 2014
advertisements
DJIBOUTI--- Djiboutian authorities have beefed up security across the national territory after last Saturday's suicide attack that left three people dead and 15 others injured in the capital.Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said the government has decided to reinforce security after the attack.
"We have enhanced our levels of alertness. We are equally coordinating surveillance and security activities with foreign troops in Djibouti as well as with intelligence services in neighboring countries like Ethiopia, Yemen and Somalia," he said.
Since a restaurant in the capital was attacked, the security forces were working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to Interior Minister Hassan Omar Mohamed.
The government has reinforced the presence of police officers around public buildings, banks, schools, main roads as well as major strategic sites.
Although Djiboutians are not used to these kinds of security measures, they do not seem perturbed by the government's move.
"Security has no price, and in life we must sometimes adopt to very difficult conditions. Although it is stressing to have all these police officers and roadblocks, I understand it is a price we have to pay for our lives," said Roda Said, a receptionist at a hotel in the capital.
Jean Robert, a French expatriate working in Djibouti, said the enhancement of security had brought some reassurance.
"Even though this was the first suicide attack in Djibouti, and even though it resulted in very few casualties, I approve the decision by Djiboutian authorities to heighten security," he explained.
On Tuesday, Somalia's terrorist group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack on a restaurant in Djibouti, calling on Djibouti's president to pull his troops out of Somalia, and expel French and U.S. soldiers based in his country.