Somali Islamists claim clash with Ethiopian troops
Nov 28, 2006 (MOGADISHU) — Powerful Somali Islamists claimed to have fought Ethiopian troops in central Somalia and warned of importing foreign fighters to join their holy war if the United Nations authorizes peacekeepers.
As the lawless nation teetered on the brink of all-out war that many fear could engulf the Horn of Africa in sustained, bloody conflict, the Islamists said Tuesday they clashed with Ethiopian forces backing the weak Somali government.
At the same time, they said UN approval of a US draft UN Security Council resolution that would authorize a regional peacekeeping force and ease an arms embargo to equip it would force them to invite foreign jihadists to Somalia.
Meanwhile, the Somali government said a UN failure to adopt the resolution, to be presented this week, could lead to a “doomsday scenario” that would accelerate the country’s descent into war and spread through the region.
The developments sent tensions soaring to their highest level since June when the Islamists seized Mogadishu after months of fighting and then grabbed most of southern and central Somalia where they have imposed strict Sharia law.
The Islamists said they began firing at Ethiopian troops around 9:00 am (0600 GMT) near the Muslim-held town of Bandiradley, about 630 kilometers (400 miles) north of Mogadishu, after they were hit by a barrage of 12 missiles.
“We exchanged heavy fire this morning,” said Mohamed Mohamoud Jumale, the Islamist spokesman in central Somali region of Mudug, where Bandiradley is located. “We didn’t suffer any casualities, but I think they did.”
In Mogadishu, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, leader of the executive wing of the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS), told a huge anti-Ethiopia, anti-US rally that the Islamists would fight to the death.
“We will never accept surrender to Meles, we are devoted to our religion and will fight until we die,” he told an estimated 10,000-strong crowd. “That is our promise.”
He referred to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi who has declared the Islamists a “clear and present” danger to his country and said Ethiopia is prepared for war to defend itself and the weak Somali government.
There was no immediate reaction from Addis Ababa to the claims of clashes, which could not be independently confirmed.
Tension around Bandiradley has been mounting since the Islamists took it from a Somali government-allied local militia earlier this month, bringing them to their northernmost point in the country.
The move took them to within 100 kilometers of the semi-autonomous enclave of Puntland, where authorities also backed by Ethiopia have vowed to resist the Islamist advance toward the region’s main town of Galkayo.
Mainly Christian Ethiopia, with a large and potentially restive Muslim minority, is wary of the rise on its border of the Islamists, some of who are accused of links with Al-Qaeda.
The reported clashes come as the UN Security Council is expected Wednesday to debate a US-drafted resolution on peacekeepers, who have been urgently requested by the government but vehemently opposed by the Islamists.
At the Mogadishu rally, Islamist security chief Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siad Indoa’adhe said passage of the resolution would mean an influx of foreign fighters to fight the peacekeeping mission.
“If the arms embargo on Somalia is lifted, we will invite all Islamists around the world to Somalia and they will fight by our side,” he said. “We shall not hesitate if the UN Security Council lifts the arms embargo.”
Some analysts believe adoption of the resolution will exacerbate the situation but in the government seat of Baidoa, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of the capital, Information Minister Ali Jama rejected this.
“Quite to the contrary, the proposed resolution, if adopted, will provide a ray of hope in Somalia and the region for it will deter the deteroriation of the conflict in Somalia,” he said in a statement.
“In fact, it is plausible that the doomsday scenario … could happen if the Security Council does not act immediately,” Jama said.
Somalia has lacked an effective government since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991.
(AFP)