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by Ali Musa Abdi
22 March 2007
MOGADISHU (AFP) - Somali troops and their Ethiopian allies exchanged heavy mortar and machinegun fire with insurgents here Thursday as terrified residents streamed out of the Somali capital fearing a wider war.
A day after at least 14 people were killed, including soldiers who were dragged and burned in the streets, Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi ordered civilians to leave areas in southern Mogadishu "for security reasons".
But as residents fled the south heavy exchanges of mortar and machinegun fire broke out in previously calm areas of northern Mogadishu.
"Heavy artillery shells are being used by the government forces and the rebels. We are inside our houses and very scared. There are stray bullets everywhere," said Bashir Mohamed, a resident of the northern Gupta neighbourhood.
"At least four people have been injured by stray bullets," said northern resident Ali Hassan Aden. "The four fled from southern Mogadishu to this area hoping it was safer."
Ethiopian tanks were seen rumbling into position as skirmishes also raged in the south of the battered seaside city.
"The fighting in Mogadishu will not stop until we defeat them (the insurgents)," Deputy Defence Minister Salad Ali Jelle told a news conference.
"We will pursue our aim of stabilizing Mogadishu. This plan will not be hampered by a few individuals."
The latest fighting was sparked by a government crackdown on the insurgents, many of whom are believed to be Islamists who have returned to the capital after being driven out with the help of Ethiopian forces late last year.
Angry crowds burned the bodies of at least two of the soldiers killed Wednesday and dragged another through the streets, in grisly scenes evoking the disastrous intervention of US troops here more than a decade ago.
Residents said the fighting was set to escalate.
"All the fighting sides are making warlike statements and are preparing for war," said Amina Sabriye, a mother of six, as she fled the fighting.
Meanwhile, Jelle said Al-Qaeda had named Islamist commander Aden Hashi Ayro as its leader in Mogadishu, raising the spectre of a broader insurgency involving foreign Islamic extremists linked to Osama bin Laden's terror network.
"After Somali terrorists made consultations with Al-Qaeda, Ayro was named as chief of Al-Qaeda in Mogadishu," Jelle told a press conference here.
Western intelligence agencies believe numerous Al-Qaeda operatives are hiding within the ranks of the Somali Islamists.
Early this month an Islamist website released an audio-taped message attributed to Ayro, who called on Somalis to attack and kill Ethiopian troops deployed in Somalia.
Western intelligence sources have warned that Somalia risks becoming a terrorist haven if efforts to empower the government fail in the face of fierce opposition from powerful clans.
Some 1,500 Ugandan troops are now in Somalia as part of a proposed 8,000-strong African Union force aiming to help government troops regain control and Ethiopian forces to leave.
The Hawiye clan, seen as the instigators of the insurgency, on Thursday rejected the prime minister's order to leave Mogadishu and accused the government of planning an assault against them.
"We see this war as an act of agression," said Ahmed Dirie, spokesman for the clan, from where the Islamists drew most of their fighters.
He also claimed that the government had deployed fighters to Mogadishu from the northern semi-autonous region of Puntland, from President Abullahi Yusuf Ahmed's rival Darod clan.
"The fighting will continue until the Puntland militia leave the capital," Dirie said.
Factional bloodletting has wracked Somalia since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, creating a platform for a civil war that has defied more than 14 peace-making attempts.