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by Mustafa Haji Abdinur
28 December 2006
MOGADISHU (AFP) - Islamist forces abandoned the Somali capital, Mogadishu, as Ethiopian-backed government troops bore down on the surrounded city where looting and gunfire has been reported.
The government said the Islamists had distributed weapons to civilians and vowed its forces would enter the capital "in the coming hours."
"We have withdrawn our forces (from Mogadishu) and there are no Islamic Court forces (there). It is the Somali people who are resisting," Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, head of the executive committee of the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS), told Al-Jazeera television Thursday.
"We did not leave the capital to chaos. We left it to avert heavy bombing because Ethiopian forces are practicing genocide against the Somali people," he said.
Looting and gunfire was also reported in northern Mogadishu on the ninth day of a conflict which the two sides say has left hundreds dead.
"We have been told that looting and gunfire has broken out in northern Mogadishu," an aid official said.
The conflict erupted on December 20 after the Islamist forces threatened to launch attacks if the Ethiopian refused to withdraw. Ethiopia's presence in its neighbour has been backed by the United States but Islamic nations have called for Ethiopia to withdraw.
The aid official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Ethiopian onslaught had forced the Islamists to break down into clan-based militia similar to those that ran the capital before the Islamists took control in June.
"The Islamic courts have broken down into clan-based militia and they have distributed guns to civilians," said the official, citing the Islamist leadership.
Somali interim government spokesman Abdirahaman Dinari told AFP "the Islamists opened stores and gave out guns and ammunition to people so that they can cause chaos and unrest."
Government forces were approaching the city from the north, northwest and west, leaving the capital effectively surrounded, according to residents.
"We will enter into the city and capture it in the coming hours because the Islamists have disappeared into thin air," Dinari said.
"This government is controlling about 95 percent of the country and will stop at nothing to ensure that the whole country is under our control," he said.
"The government's national security committee has declared a state of emergency in Somalia. Under this state, the government will ensure that peace is restored in the country, especially Mogadishu and everybody is disarmed."
Meanwhile, militia groups allied to the Somali government took control of key installations.
"We have taken control of the sea port, the (international) airport after the Islamic courts left the area this morning," Salad Ahmed Mohamed, a faction commander told AFP.
Another faction took control of the presidential palace, they said.
Heavy fighting erupted in Somalia on December 20, a date set by the Islamists for Ethiopian troops supporting the government to withdraw.
Ethiopia ignored the demand. Somalia's mainly Christian neighbour had stepped in to support the UN-backed but weak transitional government, claiming that the Islamists threaten Ethiopia's security.
Somalia has been wracked by factional war since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
Late Wednesday, the UN Security Council failed to reach consensus on a statement calling for the immediate withdrawal of all foreign forces from Somalia and an end to military operations.
It was the second day in a row that the 15 members failed to reach common ground and they finally decided to give up their attempt as it became clear there was no hope of a consensus.
The African Union and the Arab League urged Ethiopia to pull out and for the rivals to observe a truce, while the Organization of the Islamic Conference warned fighting could worsen "the humanitarian tragedy already unfolding".
In Kenya, whose government helped shape Somalia's interim regime in 2004, diplomats said the Islamists had agreed to attend talks in Nairobi on Thursday to contain the situation.
But Ahmed, the Islamists' leader, ruled out any negotiations with Addis Ababa.
"We will not negotiate with Ethiopia while its forces are inside Somalia," he told Al-Jazeera.
The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has meanwhile warned that as many as 50,000 refugees could pour into neighbouring countries.
