ALLAH AKBAR ALLAH AKBAR WHAT A GREAT DAY
VIVA LA ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF SOMALIA
THOSE WHO DIED FOR THEIR COUNTRIE AND DIIDN WONT BE FORGOTTEN FOR HIS HISTORICAL DAY
Jowhar - Three United States-backed Somali warlords on Tuesday fled their last remaining stronghold of Jowhar, to where they had escaped after being routed in Mogadishu by Islamic fighters, an AFP correspondent witnessed.
Mohamed Afrah Qanyare and Issa Botan Alin - who were evicted from the capital last week - and local warlord Abdu Nure Said left Jowhar, about 90km north of Mogadishu, in a convoy of pick-up trucks mounted with machine guns - known as technicals - and headed further north.
Residents said the warlords fled to Qanyare's hometown in the central Somali region of Galgudud.
"We have reports that the warlords are running away because the Islamic fighters are coming in," a resident told AFP.
They said the sporadic gunfire heard earlier in Jowhar had been meant to clear the road for the warlords, who lost most of the Somali capital last week to gunmen loyal to the Joint Islamic Courts.
Months of clashes between the rival alliances have claimed hundreds of lives in Mogadishu.
Their hasty exit left Jowhar within striking distance of the Islamists, who have been steadily approaching from the neighbouring Balad town, 60km to the south, according to residents.
An AFP correspondent reported that gunmen loyal to Mohamed Dheere, the warlord who controls Jowhar, remained in the front-line ready to defence this dusty outpost that once served as the seat of the transitional federal government.
Residents said the town had been very tense in recent days as militiamen loyal to Dheere - who is reported to be in Ethiopia - reinforced their defences ready to tackle Islamic militia.
Nearly 350 people were killed and more than 2 000 wounded, many of them civilians, in four months of bloody battles for Mogadishu between the victorious Islamic militia and the US-backed Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT).
The Islamists' victory has sparked fears of a Taliban-like takeover, with the forcible imposition of Sharia law and radical Muslim policies that could breed terrorists.
Since taking over the capital the courts have tried to enforce a ban on secular films and watching the ongoing World Cup football finals. - Sapa-AFP
2006-06-14
Source: IOL
