Insurgents closing in on Mogadishu

  1. Posted on Saturday 15 November 2008 - 11:40
    deodatus
    deofuga@yahoo.com
    Deodatus Mfugale, AfricaNews reporter in Dar es Salem, Tanzania Photo: Guled Hussein
    Islamist insurgents on Friday moved close to a checkpoint manned by Ethiopian soldiers, in a small town located near Mogadishu. The move has rekindled fears of renewed fighting among residents particularly bearing in mind that Al Shabaab insurgents began moving towards Mogadishu almost unchallenged.
    Guled Hussein25
    Al Shabaab fighters, one of the strongest rebel groups, early this week moved from Sinkadheer to Elasha town where Ethiopian forces are based. This left them a distance of only 15 kilometres to Mogadishu.

    Islamist insurgents have recently made their presence felt in southern Somali where they have chased away government and Ethiopian troops, occupying many areas.

    In the past week alone, Al Shabaab fighters have taken control of three towns. On Thursday they briefly occupied Elasha while only the day before they seized Merka which lies 90 km southwest of Mogadishu. The port town is an important base for the World Food Programme as it is used for off loading food aid shipments for starving Somalis.

    Many residents in Elasha were worried that renewed fighting would cut off the supply of food aid and bring more problems to the country that has known no peace for 17 years.

    Under the U.N.-brokered deal, Ethiopian forces are scheduled to start withdrawing from Mogadishu and other towns later this month. Al Shabaab has however rejected the peace deal demanding total withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from Somalia. Their new offensive is likely to jeopardize the peace deal and subsequent withdrawal of Ethiopian troops.

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