Somali Capital Braces for All-Out War

[xiinfaniin]

Somali Capital Braces for All-Out War

 

Alan Boswell

Monday, February 08, 2010

 

Nairobi, Kenay (VOA) - Remaining residents within Somalia's battle-torn capital are fleeing as rebel and government forces prepare for new clashes. The Western-backed Mogadishu government has announced its intention of launching an offensive against the Islamist opposition.

 

For weeks, the Transitional Federal Government has been promising to drive back the rebel forces who control much of Mogadishu and most of southern Somalia. The threat was reiterated by the the nation's foreign affairs minister during a visit to Japan. He said the offensive would begin "very very soon."

 

Those in the capital city say clashes appear imminent, with the government army positioning to attack, and reinforcements reportedly flowing into the shifting rebel lines.

 

The government has begun to shell al-Shabab-controlled areas. Some reports say there have civilians have been killed in the shelling.

 

Hundreds are said to be fleeing the city in expectation of major violence, most heading to the Afgoye Corridor about 30 kilometers south of Mogadishu. The camp there is thought to house the most concentrated number of displaced people in the world.

 

The spokesman for the insurgent Islamist group al-Shabab, Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, told reporters his fighters are ready for any attack, saying the government would be unseated from power. The group regularly denounces the official administration for being un-Islamic.

 

The official government is headed by Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, a former insurgent leader who was elected by the nation's parliament in early 2009.

 

Most of his tenure in power has been marked by a strengthening Islamist insurgency, composed of many of his former friends and allies. Most powerful and most radical of the rebel groups is al-Shabab, thought by Washington to have links to al-Qaida. Fighting alongside, and occasionally against, is Hizbul Islam, a conglomerate of smaller rebel factions.

 

The embattled administration has been buffered from the insurgents by an African Union peacekeeping force composed of Ugandans and Burundians, which protects about 10-square blocks that includes the presidential palace and the airstrip.

 

The government has for months lingered in inaction as the rebels have entrenched their control throughout much of the country. But its officials say the time has come for retaliation.

 

A recent Reuters report quoted an anonymous Kenyan official as saying 2,500 Somalis have just finished military training in northeastern Kenya and are being deployed with the Somali military. Kenya, not eager to start a direct conflict against the Islamists, and has denied the accuracy of such reports

 

But some doubt whether the Somali army is capable of conducting the long-promised counter-insurgency campaign. The army is criticized as being poorly funded and undisciplined. Soldiers complain of late pay and a lack of equipment.

 

The Mogadishu government says support from the international community has been inadequate. In addition, the administration is plagued by a perception of being corrupt and inept.

 

Source: VOA

[xiinfaniin]

New Somalia government offensive against Al Shabab

 

By Scott Baldauf Staff writer

Monday, February 08, 2010

 

The weak, transitional Somalia government may finally bring President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed some badly needed legitimacy if newly trained forces can push back the militant Islamist group, Al Shabab.

 

 

Johannesburg, South Africa - A long-awaited offensive by the weak, transitional Somali government may finally bring President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed some badly needed legitimacy, but it is almost certainly going to increase the hardship of tens of thousands of civilians who are being forced from their homes.

 

The conflict has the potential to spread outside of Somalia. The offensive is targeting the militant Islamist Al-Shabab rebel group who have threatened to launch a jihad, or holy struggle, against Kenya for its reported military support for President Sharif’s government.

 

The most recent bout of fighting began in January as thousands of Somali troops, newly trained in Djibouti, Burundi, and reportedly in Kenya, began to return to Somalia and take up positions on the front lines. Fighting in Belet Wayne, Dhuusamareeb, and the capital of Mogadishu has killed 258 in the past month, displaced some 82,000 others, and increased the number of Somali civilians who must rely on external food aid to survive, according to the United Nations.

 

Al Shabab’s deputy commander, Sheikh Hussen Abdi Gedi, told a reporter for the pro-Shabab radio station, Andalus, that the Islamic militia was prepared to call for jihad against Kenya.

 

“Kenya has prepared troops that comprise of Kenyans and Somalis, who are trained to attack and take over the regions,” Sheikh Hussen told Andalus radio on Sunday, referring to press reports that Kenya had trained some 2,500 Somali troops for the Sheikh Sharif government. “They are planning to attack us on the land, sea, and air. We are urging people to be ready and defend our land.”

 

A fresh chance for legitimacy – and stability

 

Somalia has been at near-constant war since the fall of its last functioning government, the dictatorship of President Siad Barre in 1991, so the current uptick in violence can be seen as just another sad chapter. But the Sharif government sees its current offensive as a chance to finally push back against the Al Shabab militia whose ties to Al Qaeda and use of suicide bombers make it an international menace. This might mean more hardship in the short term, experts on Somalia say, but it might mean more stability in the long term.

 

“Certainly in the short term, any concerted military offensive against Al Shabab is going to have humanitarian consequences, but the hope is that in the long term this can lead to a resolution of the conflict so that people can get on with their lives,” says E. J. Hogendoorn, director of the Horn of Africa Project at the International Crisis Group’s office in Nairobi. “This is a chance for the government to show the public, in places where they don’t control territory, that they can provide services and to show they are a functioning government.”

 

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

[xiinfaniin]

Al-Shabab retreating from Mogadishu, reports say

 

Monday, February 08, 2010

 

Al-Shabab fighters have reportedly vacated their strongholds in Mogadishu ahead of a government offensive.

 

According to sources, the group has been pulling out all its weapons and vehicles from its main stronghold ever since they heard the reports of an imminent government attack.

 

Other reports also suggested that other Al-Shabab strongholds, including the Daynile district, have witnessed large movements of military personnel and equipment.

 

It is unclear if this is a military tactic that Al-Shabab is employing.

 

In addition, five people were killed and dozens of others injured on Sunday in shelling that rocked parts of the Somali capital Mogadishu, medics and witnesses said.

 

Source: PressTV

[Shaakirullaah]

No pompous Waterloo theory this time?

[xiinfaniin]

^^They will soon be heading to the bushes

[Jacaylbaro]

Then come back in a year or so

[xiinfaniin]

Goballada bartamaha Soomaaliya oo la isu biro-tumanayo

 

Talaado, Feb, 9, 2010 (HOL) Xoogagga Ahlu Sunna Waljameeca, Xarrakada Shabaabul Mujaahidiin, iyo Ururka Xisbul Islaam ayaa hadda u muuqda kuwa ku jirra diyaar garow dagaal iyo isku hub uruursi shaki iyo cabsi ku dhaliyay in badan oo ka mid ah dadka ku dhaqan Goballada Hiiraan iyo Galgaduud oo ay kala maamulaan dhinacyada iska soo horjeeda.

 

Waxaa intaa sii dheer warar kale oo sheegaya in degmada Feer-feer ee dhulka Ismaamulka Soomaalida Itoobiya soo gaareen Ciidamo Itoobiyaan ah iyo kuwa loo soo tababaray Dowladda Soomaaliya oo laga yaabo in ay lug ku yeeshaan gulufka Colaadeed ee durbaba sasaankiisa laga dheehan karo Goballada bartamaha gaar ahaan deegaannada ay gacanta ku hayaan Xoogagga Islaamiyiinta ah laakiin ku kala duwan arragtiyada diimeed.

 

Saraakiisha Ahlu Sunna Waljameeca ee ku sugan Goballka Galgaduud ayaa si joogta ah ugu cel celinaya weeraro ay damacsan yihiin in ay ku soo qaadaan Magaalada Beledweyne oo ay gacanta ku hayaan Xoogagga Xarrakada Shabaabul Mujaahidiin iyo Xisbul Islaam oo dhinacooda u sii diyaar garowbay in ay iska caabiyaan weerar kasta oo kagaga yimaada dhinaca Goballka Galgaduud ama dhulka Ismaamulka Soomaalida Itoobiya.

 

Waxaa joogto ka noqday goobaha dadku ku badan yahay ee Magaalada Beledweyne Muxaadarooyin ay qabanayaan Saraakiil ka tirsan Xarrakada Shabaabul Mujaahidiin iyo Xisbul Islaam kuwaa oo dadka ugu baaqaya in ay ka qeyb qaataan Jihaad lagu wado in uu ka bilaawdo bartamaha Soomaaliya kaa oo sida ay hadalka u dhigaan ku wajahan kooxaha ay soo abaabuleyso Dowladda Itoobiya.

 

Sidoo kale wararka laga helayo degmooyinka Gure-ceel iyo Caabud-waaq ee Goballka Galgaduud ayaa iyaguna sheegaya in mar marka qaar la arkayo gadiid ay ku xiran yihiin cod baahiyaal oo ay mas'uuliyiinta Ahlu Sunna Waljameeca dadka ugu sheegayaan in ay ka qeyb qaataan dagaallka lagu xureynayo kooxo markaa ay ku tilmaamayaan in ay diinta ku soo duuleen.

 

Wararkaasi dhiilada xanbaarsan ee ka soo kala baxaya Xoogagga sheegta in ay u difaaca diinta iyo ku dhaqanka Shareecada Islaamka ayaa waxaa sii shidaya hajabaadaha is daba jooga ah ee ka soo baxaya dhinaca mas'uuliyiinta Dowladda Soomaaliya oo si toos ah u sheegay in dhawaan weerari doonaan deegaannada ay gacanta ku hayaan kooxaha mucaaradka ku ah.

 

Dadka ku dhaqan Magaalada Beledweyne ee dhawaan ku barakacay dagaalladii ugu danbeeyay ku dhaxmaray Magaalada kooxaha wali birta isku afeysanaya ayaa hadda ka fikiraya wax ay ka yeelayaan hajabaadaha soo baxaya, waxaana xusid mudan in ay jiraan qoysas markii hore qorsheynayay in ay soo guryo noqdaan oo hadda dib uga laabtay go'aankaa mar haddii aysan xaaladu aheyn mid leysku haleyn karo.