Somalia forms anti-terror force

[Jacaylbaro]

Somalia's government has formed an anti-terror unit to quell growing unrest in the capital, Mogadishu, a defence official said on Monday.

 

The paramilitary force was trained by Ethiopian troops who helped the interim government rout an Islamic group that held the capital and most of southern Somalia until late last year.

 

The force began operations on Monday, Deputy Defence Minister Salad Ali Jelle said, a day after a car exploded in the capital, killing all four passengers.

 

"It is a government plan to fight terrorists and bring them to justice," Jelle said. He refused to offer more details about the exact number of the unit, but another government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said it numbered about 700 soldiers.

 

No one has claimed responsibility for the Sunday's car explosion. Some eyewitnesses said the car had been hit by rocket propelled grenade fired from another vehicle. Others said they thought that the car had just exploded.

 

Jelle said the occupants of the car were suicide bombers, who lacked the technical know-how to denote explosives.

 

Insecurity in Somalia has been growing since the transitional government backed by Ethiopian forces drove out the rival Islamic movement. Since the government returned to Mogadishu insurgents have staged almost daily attacks.

 

Meanwhile, international media watchdogs condemned the killing of a Somali journalist on Monday and called on the government to bring the perpetrators to justice.

 

Ali Mohammed Omar, a 25-year-old radio journalist, was gunned down on February 16 by three unknown attackers as he walked home in the southern town of Baidoa, two media groups said in separate statements.

 

"This is a shocking murder and we demand that the government gives top priority to bringing the killers to justice," said Aidan White, General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists.

 

Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on one another, throwing the country into anarchy. The transitional government was formed in 2004 with United Nations help. -- Sapa-AP