From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sun Mar 14 2010 - 16:59:08 EST
Death Toll Rises: U. S. does not want to "Americanize the Somalia Conflict"
Civilians Flee From Mogadishu's Renewed Violence
<http://www.globalresearch.ca> Global Research, March 14, 2010
MOGADISHU -- The fighting of the past days in the Somali capital Mogadishu
has claimed the lives of more than 100 and wounded 150 others with thousands
of civilians uprooted from their homes, analysts say.
The Mogadishu fighting erupted Wednesday after weeks of speculation of a
major Somali government offensive on rebel forces who control substantial
parts of the capital.
Most of the clashes center around the north Mogadishu districts, the rebel
strongholds, where most of the civilians casualties were reported. Families
in the area are vacating their homes.
"We now know that as many as 100 people or more were killed since Wednesday
and more than 150 others were wounded while thousands of people fled their
homes, but despite the claims by both sides the frontlines remain the same,"
Yusuf Iman, a political analysts in Mogadishu, told Xinhua.
The Somali government's declared aim of the fighting was to retake areas
under rebel control in Mogadishu at least during the first phase of the
offensive, while rebel commanders have been vowing to "finish off" the
Somali government. "None of them, as far as we know, have achieved their
stated aims but what we are seeing is that civilians bearing the brunt of
much of the violence," said Ahmed Ali, another Somalia conflict observer in
Mogadishu .
Somali officials advised residents in the areas where the fighting was
continuing to vacate the areas to avoid harm. Many seem to have taken heed
of the government call and left their homes.
There has been much speculation about a U. S. plan to help the Somali
government in its onslaught to drive the rebels from their strong-holds in
Mogadishu, but U. S. officials came out on Friday to officially deny such
intentions.
While both Somali government officials and Islamist groups welcomed the U.
S. involvement in the conflict, they had diametrically opposing reasons for
their stances.
Analysts contend that U. S. officials denied the media reports not to give
the Islamist a "rallying cry" to gain support for their war against the
Somali government which they painted as a "puppet" of Washington.
"The American confirmation earlier of their intention and their later denial
seem that they have realized that was giving a "rallying cry" just as they
used it for the Ethiopian intervention, " said Iman,
"The U. S. does not want to Americanize the Somalia conflict, thus giving
the rebels the hearts and minds of locals who are against any foreign
intervention in their country."
More of intelligence sharing, logistics support and aerial surveillances are
what the United States intends to provide, but it seems unlikely to see U.
S. soldiers roaming in the streets of the Somali capital Mogadishu, backing
government forces in the fight with Islamists just as the African Union
forces have been doing for the past three days, observers says.
The weak but internationally recognized government of Somalia has been
fighting deadly with Islamist insurgents for years in a bid to regain
control of the whole war-torn country.
Islamist rebels control much of the south and central Somalia, including
large parts of the capital Mogadishu. The terrorist movement of Al Shabaab,
the strongest of the insurgents, wants to overthrow the government and
establish an Islamic state in the Horn of African nation.
Editor: Han Jingjing
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