Ethiopia-backed Somali militiamen seize control of village
Aug 22, 2006 (MOGADISHU) — Ethiopia-backed Somali militiamen on Tuesday seized control of a small village in central Somalia after fighters loyal to the dominant Islamists pulled out, officials and witnesses said.
They said Ethiopian troops, militiamen loyal to former Mogadishu warlord Abdi Hassan Awale Qeydiid and those allied to Adde Muse, leader of the semi-autonomous northeastern Somali region of Puntland, entered Bandiiradley village and took control of it.
“I confirm that militiamen loyal to Qeydiid took control of Bandiiradley village,” said Mohamed Mohamoud, the spokesman of the Islamic movement in central Somalia.
Mohamoud explained that the Islamic militia had left the village, about 70 kilometres (44 miles) north of the key town of Galkayo which is some 620 kilometres north of Mogadishu, after they got word that Ethiopian troops and rival militia were approaching.
“Qeydiid’s militiamen with the support of Ethiopian troops and Puntland militias have taken control of Bandiiradley,” he said, adding that there were no casualities because the Islamic militia withdrew from the village that lies near the Ethiopian border.
Witnesses said the Ethiopian troops entered the village, making their first reported presence in central Somalia.
“They were Ethiopian troops no doubt,” said a resident, who asked to remain unnamed.
The Islamists, who hold sway over much of southern and central Somalia, ousted Qeydiid and other US-backed warlords from the capital in June, and started establishing Islamic Sharia courts.
With much of southern Somalia under their control, the Islamists vowed to plot ways of seizing back the village.
“We have sent some soldiers to detect the power of the forces who took Bandiiradley,” Mohamoud told AFP. When these troops return, he said, “we will start open fighting against Ethiopia and its stooges.”
“We are standing for the protection of our land and religion so the soldiers of Allah are ready to defeat the enemy,” he added.
The influence of the Islamists rose in June after they saw victories in Mogadishu and other outposts in southern Somalia and made clear their intention to control the whole of the Horn of Africa nation.
This aim, and the feared advance to the government base in Baidoa, compelled Ethiopia to deploy troops to protect the government that was appointed in Kenya in late 2004 after more than two years of peace talks that was seen as the best chance for the lawless country to begin reunifying.
Somali has lacked an effective government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Its current transitional government is based in the south-central town of Baidoa, but its authority has been severely challenged by the advance of the Islamists.
A total of 14 internationally-backed initiatives earlier failed to produce a government. Analysts blamed the failures on unruly warlords, who obtained weapons and other forms of support from neighbouring countries despite a UN arms embargo.
(ST/AFP)