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From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Mon Aug 30 2010 - 15:17:59 EDT
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Somali-Government-Appeals-for-Help-as-Islamists-Advance--101798873.html
Mortar Kills AU Peacekeepers in Somalia
Alisha Ryu | Nairobi30 August 2010
A mortar attack on the presidential palace in the Somali capital has
killed at least four African Union peacekeepers and critically wounded
nine others. For the past week, the peacekeeping force, protecting the
country's U.N.-backed government in Mogadishu, has been battling a new
round of attacks by al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militants.
Failed attack
According to the spokesman of the African Union peacekeeping mission
in Somalia, Barigye Ba-Hoku, a mortar round fired from an al-Shabab
position near the presidential palace exploded near a contingent of
Ugandan peacekeepers guarding the palace compound, also known as Villa
Somalia.
Ba-Hoku called the mortar strike a "lucky hit" for the al-Qaida-linked
militants, who are battling to overthrow Somalia's weak, U.N.-backed
government and to force the withdrawal of the peacekeeping force.
Uganda and Burundi are the only countries contributing troops to the
6,000-member African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia. Uganda was
the target of twin suicide bombings last month in Kampala, which
al-Shabab said it carried out in retaliation for Uganda's
participation in the peacekeeping mission.
al-Shabab renews efforts
Vowing last week to wage a massive, final war against the government
and the African Union troops, al-Shabab has renewed its efforts to
seize power in the Somali capital.
Last Tuesday, two al-Shabab suicide bombers, disguised as government
security forces, killed more than 30 people, including parliament
members and civil servants at a Mogadishu hotel. As the fighting in
the capital escalated, killing and wounding dozens more, reports
suggested that hundreds of al-Shabab reinforcements had arrived from
other parts of Somalia.
On Friday, al-Shabab's self-styled mayor, Ali Mohamed Hussein, said
al-Shabab had captured government military bases and the Mogadishu
base of pro-government Sufi Muslim militia, Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jama'a.
Declaring al-Shabab victory in Friday's battle, Hussein said the
extremist group was getting closer to its goal of throwing out the
government. An Ahlu-Sunna official subsequently denied that the Sufi
militia had been defeated and said the militia had only made a
tactical retreat.
Some of the worst fighting in the Somali capital occurred the
following day, as al-Shabab fighters pressed their way into Muka
al-Mukarama Road, a vital thoroughfare that connects the presidential
palace and government ministries to the airport.
Questions raised
Government soldiers, backed up by African Union firepower, beat back
the al-Shabab advance. But the incident raised further questions about
the government, which has not been able to stand up a security force
of its own.
In the past two years, thousands of Somalis have been given police and
military training by various countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya, and
European Union member states, to keep al-Shabab at bay while the
government demonstrated that it could govern and provide basic
services to the people. But the majority of the recruits are believed
to have defected to al-Shabab or have sold their uniform and arms and
disappeared after the government failed to pay their salaries.
In a press release, Somali President Sharif Sheik Ahmed said the
government is committed to re-establishing law and order in Mogadishu
and elsewhere in Somalia. But he said it needed far more attention and
financial help from the international community.
President Sharif noted that Somalia does not receive the kind of
international assistance given to other countries suffering
terrorist-related violence, such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq,
even though Somalia is facing a similar, if not more potent, enemy.
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