Somali militia advances to key town near Ethiopian border

Dec 11, 2006 (MOGADISHU) — Islamic militiamen were moving on a town on the Ethiopian border, an Islamic movement official said Monday, adding they would try to seal the 1,600-kilometer (1,000-mile) frontier to keep out any advancing Ethiopian troops and trap any already in Somalia.

Somalia’s transitional government, which is backed by Ethiopia against the growing threat posed by the Islamic movement, has sent about 700 troops to defend the town, Tiyeglow, said Mohamed Ali Gaboobe, a government militia commander. That raised the possibility of another front line opening between the rivals.

Tiyeglow is about 150 kilometers (90 miles) northeast of Baidoa, the only town the government controls. Tiyeglow, on the pothole-ridden main road between the Ethiopian border and Baidoa, is believed to be one of the towns through which Ethiopian troops have entered Somalia and may be on their supply route. Both the transitional government and Ethiopia have consistently denied there are Ethiopian troops in Somalia, with Ethiopia saying it only has a few hundred military advisers helping the transitional government form a national army.

“Our fighters, with large number of battle wagons, are now advancing on Tiyeglow. We are going to the town following an invitation from the local people, who had asked us to help them restore law and order,” said Mohamed Ibrahim Bilaal, an Islamic courts official.

“We will go to all border towns in our country to deprive our enemy of a route to enter into our country. Also we don’t want the enemy inside Somalia to get an exit route to flee from it when the jihad (holy war) starts,” Bilaal told The Associated Press by telephone.

The latest military build up further raises fears of intensified conflict in Somalia. The Council of Islamic Courts, which controls the Islamic militiamen, already has hundreds of combatants within striking distance of the transitional government along four front lines in southern and central Somalia.

On Friday and Saturday, the rivals fought at two villages along one of those lines, outside Dinsor in southwestern Somalia. At least 15 people were killed and 18 others wounded, witnesses said.

A Somali human rights group said on Sunday that it feared renewed fighting in Somalia could lead to a repeat of past human rights violations, such as rape, torture, kidnapping and looting.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned on each other.

A transitional government was formed two years but it has been unable to assert its authority over the country. Since June the Council of Islamic Courts has seized Mogadishu and taken control of much of southern Somalia.

(AP)