From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Mon Nov 02 2009 - 09:15:32 EST
Dozens killed in Somali fighting-rights group
Sun Nov 1, 2009 7:38pm GMT
* Battles in several southern, central Somali towns
* Al Shabaab bans shaving
By Abdi Guled and Ibrahim Mohamed
MOGADISHU, Nov 1 (Reuters) - At least 36 people have been killed and scores
wounded in three days of fighting in towns across chaotic southern and
central Somalia, a local human rights group said on Sunday.
Government troops fought a rebel group in a central town, the two main
insurgent forces battled each other in the south and police from the
semi-autonomous northern Puntland region clashed with soldiers on their
border.
In the breakaway northern enclave of Somaliland, a roadside bomb killed a
senior army officer on Sunday and wounded one of his bodyguards, according
to a government official.
In the capital Mogadishu, police said even some of the president's own
bodyguards made off with an escort vehicle and took it to the main weapons
market, which is run by insurgents.
"At least 36 people died and 175 others were injured in Mogadishu, Galkayo
and in Bakool region in the last three days," said Ali Yasin Gedi,
vice-chairman of Elman human rights group.
Somalia has been mired in chaos for nearly two decades and there is little
sign the latest attempt to establish central government is proving any more
successful than the 14 previous efforts since a dictator was ousted in 1991.
Western nations worry that the longer anarchy reigns in Somalia, the more
entrenched hardline rebels accused of links to al Qaeda will become. They
fear Somalia could then be used as a base to wreak havoc in the region and
beyond.
The chaos on land has also allowed pirate gangs to operate with impunity,
hijacking merchant ships, fishing vessels and yachts to demand hefty ransoms
for their return.
SHAVING BANNED
Government officials and residents said eight people were killed and 16
wounded when government troops drove hardline Islamist insurgents Hizbul
Islam out of the central town of Baladweyne on Friday.
Resident Fatuma Aden said the insurgents ran away after heavy exchanges of
mortar shells and gunfire and that government forces were now at the
airport.
In another incident on Friday, residents said fighting between Hizbul Islam
and al Shabaab -- a rebel group that Washington says is linked to al Qaeda
-- killed at least three people and wounded seven in the southern Bakool
region.
"Fighting has stopped and al Shabaab control the town but still there is
tension," local elder Malaq Muse told Reuters.
The country's two main insurgent groups had controlled much of southern and
central Somalia in an uneasy alliance. But that was shattered by days of
fighting between the rebels for control of the lucrative southern port
Kismayu.
Al Shabaab, which wants to impose its own harsh version of sharia law
throughout Somalia, has been cracking down on activities it deems to be
against Islam such as sport and music.
In the southern town of Marka on Friday, al Shabaab warned men they would be
punished for not wearing beards.
"Al Shabaab publicly ordered the barbers not to shave or trim people's
beards," resident Sabriye said by phone from Marka. "They also ordered men
not to shave beards -- or else face punishment." (Additional reporting by
Abdi sheikh and Mohamed Ahmed in Mogadishu, Sahra Abdi in Nairobi; Writing
by Abdi Sheikh; Editing by David Clarke)
C Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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