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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Tue Aug 24 2010 - 06:46:07 EDT
Al-Shabab avow 'massive' Somali war
August 24, 2010
Al-Shabab fighters have attacked a hotel in Mogadishu, the Somali capital,
killing at least 11 lawmakers.
Members of al-Shabab, disguised as government workers, launched the attack
on Tuesday at the Muna Hotel, which is known to host many Somali government
officials and politicians, Al Jazeera's reporter in the city said.
The hotel is located a kilometre away from the presidential palace.
The flare-up came after al-Shabab fighters declared a "massive, final" war
against what they called "invaders" and attacked army barracks in several
districts of Mogadishu on Monday.
Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Rage, al-Shabab's spokesman, had said on Monday that
fighters were starting a new war against "invaders", an apparent reference
to the 6,000 African Union troops deployed in the country to support
government forces.
At least 40 people were reportedly killed and more than 100 injured in the
violence that followed, medics and witnesses said.
There was an overnight lull before the fighting resumed on Tuesday morning.
Ugandan reinforcements arrive
The fighting came days after hundreds of Ugandan troops began arriving in
the Somali capital to strengthen the current AU peacekeeping force.
Uganda said last month that it was willing to send 1,200 troops to Somalia,
in addition to the 6,000 strong AMISOM mission sent by African Union
countries.
"The additional troops began arriving last Friday, they were airlifted to
different areas and of course they will continue to arrive," Wafula
Wamunyinyi, the AU deputy special representative for Somalia, said on
Monday.
Al-Shabab, which has been fighting Somalia's UN-backed government since the
start of 2007, recently claimed responsibility for a twin bombing attack in
Uganda, which killed more than 70 people who were watching the World Cup.
The group has said that it will continue to undertake strikes in Uganda and
Burundi, in east-central Africa, as long as those countries provide troops
for the AU peacekeeping force in Somalia.
Somalia has not had an effective central government for nearly 20 years and
al-Shabab controls significant portions of the country.
The US and other countries say al-Shabab is linked to al-Qaeda and consider
the group a terrorist organisation.
More than 21,000 Somalis have been killed in fighting since the start of the
uprising, 1.5 million have been uprooted from their homes and nearly half a
million are sheltering in other countries in the region.
In depth
http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2008/12/19/2008121995033332734_8
.jpg
http://english.aljazeera.net/Media/Images/sq.gifTimeline
<http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2009/01/2009126212443542421.html>
of Somalia
http://english.aljazeera.net/Media/Images/sq.gifRestoring
<http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/2009/2009/01/2009125112959809243.ht
ml> Somalia
http://english.aljazeera.net/Media/Images/sq.gifA
<http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/01/2009130815481618.html> long
road to stability
http://english.aljazeera.net/Media/Images/sq.gifSomali
<http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2008/06/20086150523566275.html>
fighters undeterred
http://english.aljazeera.net/Media/Images/sq.gifProfile:
<http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2009/01/2009130103738130957.html>
Sheikh Sharif
Sheikh Ahmed
http://english.aljazeera.net/Media/Images/sq.gif Somali
<http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/01/201016102343505552.html>
Islamists: A potential ally?
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