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27 December 2006
MOGADISHU (AFP) - Ethiopian-backed Somali government troops have ousted Islamist forces from a key southern town and moved closer to the Islamist-held capital of Mogadishu as the conflict in the Horn of Africa nation entered its second week.
Hours after the UN Security Council failed to agree on the withdrawal of foreign troops, the government forces seized the town of Jowhar, about 90 kilometres (55 miles) north of Mogadishu.
"We have lost the town, but we are keeping on fighting. We are still making a military retreat and they are suffering more than we do," Islamist commander Sheikh Yonis Haji Idris told AFP on Wednesday.
Government commander Hassan Abdulahi Jiis also confirmed the fall of Jowhar.
"We have pushed the terrorists and their backing forces back to the capital, they are losing control day-by-day and Jowhar has fallen into the hands of the government forces," Jiis said.
"They do not have the ability to resist, they are running and the local people are also welcoming our forces cordially," he added.
The seizure of Jowhar puts government troops closer to heavily-fortified Mogadishu from the northern front where the Islamists have lost a string of towns after deadly artillery duels.
Fighting first erupted December 20 after the Islamists, who controlled most of the country, demanded the departure of Ethiopian troops supporting the weak UN-backed government.
Somalia has been wracked by conflict since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
The sustained clashes over the past week forced the UN World Food Programme to suspend its air operations and pull out its air-support staff who were assisting nearly half a million people affected by recent flooding.
The agency's spokesman Peter Smerdon insisted that ground operations would continue.
Witnesses said columns of Islamist forces had retreated to the Mogadishu, where ruling clerics vowed to dig in for a long-lasting war with Ethiopian troops.
The Islamists, who have rallied domestic support, said it was a "tactical retreat" that was forced by Addis Ababa's air assault on their positions.
On Tuesday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said his forces had killed more than 1,000 enemy combatants, mostly foreign fighters. The Islamists have also claimed to have killed hundreds on the government side.
The tolls could not be independently confirmed, but AFP correspondents have seen hundreds of bodies on the frontlines since the clashes erupted last week.
The Islamists have retreated from their frontlines and accused Ethiopian forces of massacring civilians in the name of killing foreign fighters believed to be supporting the movement.
Meles said he was not interested in capturing Mogadishu, but Jowhar residents said his forces rolled into the township, which is key for access to central Somalia, and appeared to be heading towards the capital.
"I saw Ethiopian armed forces with heavy artillery weapons pouring into the town from north. They are marching towards Mogadishu (and) I think the fighting is heading to the capital," said Jowhar resident Muktar Haji Ali.
In New York, the UN Security Council late Tuesday failed to agree on calling for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Somalia with key powers pressing for a ceasefire and a resumption of dialogue between warring Somali parties.
Washington, which accuses the Islamists of links to Al-Qaeda, put its weight behind Addis Ababa, but called on its regional anti-terrorism ally to exercise "maximum restraint."
Regional peacemaker Kenya, which helped form the Somali government in 2004, asked Ethiopia to cease military operations, as it announced plans to organise a regional meeting to discuss the escalation of the conflict in Somalia.
Somalia's northern neighbour Djibouti, where American and French troops have bases, also called for Ethiopia to pull out to avoid more escalation.
