From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Mon Feb 08 2010 - 18:08:14 EST
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/war/Somali-Capital-Braces-for-All-Out-War-83814632.html
Somali
Capital Braces for All-Out War
Alan Boswell | Nairobi 08 February 2010
Remaining residents within Somalia's battle-torn capital are fleeing as
rebel and government forces prepare for new clashes. The Western-backed
Mogadishu government has announced its intention of launching an offensive
against the Islamist opposition.
For weeks, the Transitional Federal Government has been promising to drive
back the rebel forces who control much of Mogadishu and most of southern
Somalia. The threat was reiterated by the the nation's foreign affairs
minister during a visit to Japan. He said the offensive would begin "very
very soon."
Those in the capital city say clashes appear imminent, with the government
army positioning to attack, and reinforcements reportedly flowing into the
shifting rebel lines.
[image: A youth leads a group of al Shabab fighters as they conduct military
exercises in northern Mogadishu's Suqaholaha neighborhood (File)] APA youth
leads a group of al Shabab fighters as they conduct military exercises in
northern Mogadishu's Suqaholaha neighborhood (File)
The government has begun to shell al-Shabab-controlled areas. Some reports
say there have civilians have been killed in the shelling.
Hundreds are said to be fleeing the city in expectation of major violence,
most heading to the Afgoye Corridor about 30 kilometers south of Mogadishu.
The camp there is thought to house the most concentrated number of displaced
people in the world.
The spokesman for the insurgent Islamist group al-Shabab, Sheikh Ali Mohamud
Rage, told reporters his fighters are ready for any attack, saying the
government would be unseated from power. The group regularly denounces the
official administration for being un-Islamic.
The official government is headed by Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, a former insurgent
leader who was elected by the nation's parliament in early 2009.
Most of his tenure in power has been marked by a strengthening Islamist
insurgency, composed of many of his former friends and allies. Most
powerful and most radical of the rebel groups is al-Shabab, thought by
Washington to have links to al-Qaida. Fighting alongside, and occasionally
against, is Hizbul Islam, a conglomerate of smaller rebel factions.
The embattled administration has been buffered from the insurgents by an
African Union peacekeeping force composed of Ugandans and Burundians, which
protects about 10-square blocks that includes the presidential palace and
the airstrip.
The government has for months lingered in inaction as the rebels have
entrenched their control throughout much of the country. But its officials
say the time has come for retaliation.
A recent Reuters report quoted an anonymous Kenyan official as saying 2,500
Somalis have just finished military training in northeastern Kenya and are
being deployed with the Somali military. Kenya, not eager to start a direct
conflict against the Islamists, and has denied the accuracy of such reports
But some doubt whether the Somali army is capable of conducting the
long-promised counter-insurgency campaign. The army is criticized as being
poorly funded and undisciplined. Soldiers complain of late pay and a lack
of equipment.
The Mogadishu government says support from the international community has
been inadequate. In addition, the administration is plagued by a perception
of being corrupt and inept.
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