Somalian situation gets more complicated
As I wrote earlier, the situation in Somalia is very unstable:
After 15 years without a national government, Somalia is a battlefield. Tribal militias and Islamic fundamentalists, allegedly tied to al-Qaeda, are struggling for control and many people are dying.From KhaleejTimes.com:
Islamic militiamen and secular fighters battled Wednesday for control of Somalia’s capital despite promises of a cease-fire, as the death toll rose to at least 90, with nearly 200 others wounded.The sounds of heavy weapons echoed through the city, but the fighting was not as intense as it had been in the previous three days. The battle between the Islamic Court Union and the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counterterrorism has centered on the northern neighborhood of Sii-Sii, with neither side gaining an advantage.
BBC NEWS | Africa | Truce collapses in Somali capital
An alliance of warlords and an Islamist militia have fought each other over the past four days in northern districts. Islamic militia leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed called a unilateral truce on Tuesday in response to appeals from those affected by the violence. But his opponents said the truce was called because of a lack of ammunition. The United Nations has appealed to both sides to halt the clashes. “The indiscriminate use of heavy machine guns, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and artillery in and between urban areas is unacceptable,” said chief UN envoy to Somalia Francois Lonseny Fall.
Can a humanitarian crisis happen in Somalia (again)? BBC NEWS | Africa | Somalis flee as city battle rages
The alliance of warlords has accused the Islamists of indiscriminate shelling, designed to provoke fear among the civilian population. The fighting between the Islamists and a group of warlords has killed some 120 people, in the worst clashes for years. Many Somalis accuse the US of backing the alliance of warlords. The BBC’s Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu says this belief is fuelling the violence.
Ein? So they want the Islamists to win? But there is more:
A United Nations team says the Islamist alliance had gained ground since the fighting began last Sunday.(so the fighting began last Sunday and we only have known about it in the middle of this week?) Our reporter says several new parts of Mogadishu have come under attack, but the front line of the main battle has hardly moved from the northern suburbs where the fighting started.
Most of those killed in the fighting are civilians caught in cross-fire or hit by stray bullets or shells, he says.
Crossposted in The Anti-Jihad Pundit.
