Somalis flee as fighting intensifies
December 22, 2006
Associated Press
MOGADISHU, Somalia – Thousands of Somalis fled their homes today as government and Ethiopian troops used artillery to defend against Islamic fighters attempting to advance on the UN-backed regime's only stronghold.
Residents reported seeing hundreds of troops and trucks being moved toward the front lines early today, following a night of heavy artillery and mortar fire. Bodies lay in the streets Thursday night, and as the battle raged leaving a European peace initiative in tatters families began to abandon their homes, crops and livestock, fearing worsening fighting. Both sides say hundreds have been killed.
"Unlike during the previous days of the fighting, this morning large numbers of people were coming from the villages around Baidoa and could be seen fleeing from the region," said Duqow Salad, a UN aid worker based in Wajid, north of Baidoa.
One government parliamentarian in the government garrison town said he feared it will fall to the Islamic group. "More well-armed Ethiopians are pouring here minute after minute and thousands of Islamic fighters are heading here to force them and the government out," he said on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisals.
Hundreds of people in areas held by the Islamic forces were also fleeing south to the capital, Mogadishu, which is controlled by the Islamic group.
Fighting along two separate front lines continued for a fourth day on Friday, with both sides claiming victory. Around 500 Ethiopian troops with eight tanks and 30 pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns were also headed for Bandiradley, an Islamic group stronghold in central Somalia, said witnesses and Islamic officials.
Ethiopian tanks counterattacked Idale, which the Islamic movement said they had captured on Thursday. Ethiopian prisoners were paraded in the town, residents said.
Sheik Ibrahim Shukri Abuu-Zeynab, a spokesman for the Islamic movement, said 200 Ethiopian troops were killed when they captured the town, 60 kilometres southwest of Baidoa. Fighting is continuing, Islamic officials said.
On Thursday, the leader of the Council of Islamic Courts said Somalia was in a state of war and called on all Somalis to fight Ethiopian forces in the country.
The transitional federal government depends on Ethiopian troops for protection and as military advisers, making it impossible to differentiate government soldiers from Ethiopian forces.
The clashes threaten to spiral into a major conflict in this volatile region, sucking in Ethiopia and its bitter rival Eritrea. Analysts believe Ethiopia may soon raise the stakes by deploying attack helicopters in support of the government.
In Ethiopia, government officials denied their troops were involved. "We have not had any soldiers killed," Zemedkun Teckle said.
"They (Islamic group) are claiming that Ethiopia is fighting against them and this is totally false. If the time comes that we have to fight, it will be very clear to everyone and there will be no doubt because we will announce this to our people."
As shelling continued close to Baidoa, Islamic leader Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys called for all Somalis to join the fight against neighbouring Ethiopia.
"All Somalis should take part in this struggle against Ethiopia," he told the AP. "If you cannot fight you can contribute in other ways to the effort," Aweys said by telephone. Eritrea is accused of supporting the Islamic group.
The United Nations appealed for calm, saying fighting would prevent aid from reaching hundreds of thousands in dire need of help because of hunger and flooding.
The interim government holds only a small area around the central town of Baidoa. The Islamic militiamen control the capital, Mogadishu, but have also fanned out across most of southern Somalia.
Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991.
from The Toronto Star
