Thousands flee Mogadishu fighting

[Liibaan]

 

Somalia's president, Sharif Ahmed, has declared a state of emergency amid the rising violence [AFP]

 

 

Thousands flee Mogadishu fighting

 

 

Thousands of people have fled the Somali capital Mogadishu amid escalating fighting between government forces and opposition fighters after the country's president declared a state of emergency.

 

Fierce street clashes have already claimed hundreds of lives and the government has called on neighbouring African countries to send troops to help it battle al-Shabaab fighters.

 

Two legislators have also been killed in the last two days of fighting and last week al-Shabab claimed responsiblity for the death of the country's security minister and at least 30 other people in a suicide car bomb attack.

 

At the weekend Sheikh Aden Mohamed Madobe, the parliament speaker, urged neighbouring countries to send troops to his country to prop up the government.

 

"We want them to come here within 24 hours," he said at a parliament meeting in the capital.

 

 

"We are asking the world and neighbouring countries to intervene in Somalia's situation immediately."

 

Those fighting the government are being led by a [former] Pakistani army general, they are burning the flag and killing people," Madobe said.

 

As the request was made, residents in central areas of Somalia reported seeing Ethiopian troops.

 

Ethiopian troops last entered the Horn of Africa country in late 2006 to support the then-government and drive out Islamic Courts Union fighters led by Sharif Ahmed, the current president.

 

Ahmed later joined the government after signing a UN-brokered peace deal and is now battling former allies from the al-Shabab and Hizbul-Islam groups, which have vowed to topple his government.

 

'Clear warning'

 

On Sunday, al-Shabab warned against any foreign military intervention in the Somalian conflict.

 

"We are sending our clear warning to the neighbouring countries. Send your troops to our holy soil if you need to take them back inside coffins," Sheikh Ali Mohamed Rage, an al-Shabab spokesman, told a news conference in Mogadishu.

 

"We tell you that our dogs and cats will enjoy eating the dead bodies of your boys if you try to respond to the calls of these stooges, because we wish to die in the way of Allah more than you wish to live."

 

More than 4,300 Ugandan and Burundian soldiers are already deployed in Somalia as part of an African Union (AU) force and are charged with protecting strategic sites such as the presidency, the port and the airport.

 

But the troops are not allowed to fight alongside government forces and are authorised only to retaliate if they come under direct attack.

 

The fighting in Mogadishu has so far forced an estimated 400,000 people to flee their homes in the city, many of them now living rough along the Afgooye corridor, about 20km south of the capital.

[Liibaan]

Labadan shiikh yaa kudhaha Allah kabaqa

 

Shacabka soomaaliyeed khaasatan kuwa Mogadishu maa dhibta laga daayo, oo dhiiga la qubayo la joojiyo

 

marba ma laba dagaal cusub bilaabaya, war dadku dagaal waa kadaaleen

 

labadan shiikh ku sheeq hadii ee diin wax ka yaqaanan, ha iscasileen oo dadka dhibta kaayaan, xukun jeceel kana haa iska dayaan, akhiro meel ma geenayo, dowlad ku sheeg dad masaakiin ah dadka looma dhameenayo,

 

xabashi in dalka mar labaad lakeeno xal manoqonaso, ee fakrad cusub ha layimaado shariifku, ama ha iscasilo