Ethiopia denies role in propping up government forces
Oct. 21, 2006. 07:22 AM
REUTERS
MOGADISHU — Somali government troops fought with a local militia loyal to the country's newly powerful Islamist movement on Saturday, residents said.
"Heavy fighting took place early this morning between government troops and a local militia loyal to the Islamists," said Abdihakim Ahmed, a resident of Bur Hakaba town.
"There is only sporadic shooting now. The two sides are just six km (3.7 miles) apart," he told Reuters by telephone. "Nobody has been killed or wounded. I went to the hospital to check."
Bur Hakaba lies between Mogadishu — which was seized by the Islamists in June — and provincial Baidoa town, the seat of Somalia's fragile interim government.
The administration's information minister, Ali Jama Jangali, said government forces had taken action to bring security to the town.
"Bur Hakaba is calm, it is very secure and our troops are in control," Jama told reporters in Baidoa.
Bedri Hassan, a senior Islamist information officer, said Islamist forces were gathered around Lego, a town 55 km (34 miles) west of Bur Hakaba on the road to Mogadishu, and would strike the government troops if they remained in Bur Hakaba.
"We have every reason to defend our allies," he said.
"We cannot sit and watch them being overrun. We will attack the government troops if they decide to stay in Bur Hakaba."
He said the government was being helped by Ethiopian troops and was planning to attack them on different fronts.
"We are waiting for them to make the move on us," he said. "We are on a high alert and are ready to face any challenges."
Another Islamist source who declined to be named said the movement was planning to send more fighters and supplies to Lego. "Heavy preparations are going on in Mogadishu," he said.
Jama told Reuters government troops would respond to any Islamist attack with force. "If they attack, the government has a right to defend itself," he said.
He rejected the allegation Ethiopian troops were involved.
"There are no Ethiopian troops in Somalia... It is only the government troops who went to Bur Hakaba," he said. "Bur Hakaba is part of the regions that come under the government."
The rise of the Islamists, who control much of southern Somalia, threatens the government's attempt to reimpose central rule on a country in chaos since the 1991 ousting of a dictator.
Laying down strict sharia law, the Islamists have vowed holy war against giant neighbour Ethiopia, whose troops they accuse of invading Somalia to prop up the Western-backed government.
Ethiopia denies it and calls the Islamists terrorists.
