Somali Islamists suspected of trying to enter Kenya

March 3, 2007 (NAIROBI) — Twenty suspected members of a radical Islamic militia that was driven out of the Somali capital late last year have been spotted along the Kenyan border, and were suspected of trying to enter the counytr, Kenyan police said.

The report, dated Thursday, said the men had “sophisticated machine guns” and were getting their food and water supplies from the southern town of Kolbio, near the Kenyan border.

The report comes as this restive Horn of Africa nation appears to be sliding back toward chaos, less than three months after the Somali government, with the help of troops from neighboring Ethiopia, drove out the Islamic militants.

Four mortar explosions rocked the Somali capital Friday, wounding six people — including two children — a day after an advance team of African peacekeepers arrived in the country, witnesses said.

African peacekeepers will have to confront growing violence in the capital, Mogadishu. Since the militants were chased out in December, insurgents have staged near-daily attacks, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence.

Somalia has been mired in anarchy since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on one another. The transitional government was formed in 2004 with U.N. help in hopes of restoring order, but it has struggled to assert its authority.

The Ethiopian troops who helped the government move into the capital have begun withdrawing. The U.N. Security Council has approved the deployment of an African peacekeeping force in Somalia expected to reach a level of 8,000 troops. An advance team of about 30 troops arrived Thursday in the southern town of Baidoa.

(AP)