Over 70 soldiers and students were killed yesterday in a bomb blast in Mogadishu. The militant group al-Shabab took responsibility for the attack, refuting previous claims by the Somali government and African Union that the terrorist organization had been eradicated from the nation’s capital. The bombing marks al-Shabab’s most lethal attack since the launch of their insurgency in 2007, and the group may soon cause even more destruction; the international community additionally blames the group for fomenting Somalia’s devastating famine by refusing Western aid, jeopardizing up to a million Somali lives.

In a conversation this morning with Democracy Now!‘s Amy Goodman, The Nation‘s Jeremy Scahill explains how yesterday’s bombing fits into the history of terrorism in Somalia. Scahill argues that al-Shabab is the direct product of America’s short-sighted and invasive foreign policy—and that American involvement in Somalia tends to benefit the very radical groups it attempts to defeat. You can read more of Jeremy’s coverage on Somalia here and here.

—Teresa Cotsirilos