The Kenyan authorities said 10 fighters were apprehended on Monday as they tried to slip through the border disguised as refugees. Eight had Eritrean passports while two had Canadian passports, Alfred Mutua, a spokesman for the Kenyan Government said. All of them were carrying briefcases packed with cash.
ETHIOPIA, one of the poorest countries in the world, cannot afford to keep its troops in Somalia much longer and is ill-equipped to play the role of peacekeeper there, the Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, has told the Ethiopian parliament.
Two hours after Mr Meles’s speech on Tuesday, two Ethiopian soldiers were gunned down in an ambush in southern Somalia in one of the first strikes of an anticipated anti-Ethiopian guerilla campaign.
An Islamic Courts Union fighter shot the two Ethiopian solders while they were crossing a bridge in Jilib, about 400 kilometres south-west of Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital. Witnesses said the fighter ran into town and was quickly surrounded by Ethiopian troops, who killed him.
Mr Meles told parliament he did not plan for Ethiopian troops, to remain in Somalia for much longer – possibly only a few more weeks.
The troops were dispatched to neutralise the rising regional threat posed by Somalia’s Islamist forces he said, and now international peacekeepers were needed to bring order to a country that has been synonymous with anarchy for 15 years. “We don’t have the money to take this burden individually,” Mr Meles said.
Diplomats in the region were hurrying to cobble together an African peacekeeping solution, but despite murmurs of commitment from several countries, including Uganda, South Africa and Nigeria, a force has yet to materialise.
Somalia is unstable, with many heavy weapons still in the hands of warlords, meaning the turmoil is likely to dissuade many nations from volunteering troops.
Somalia’s transitional Prime Minister, Ali Mohamed Gedi, on Tuesday reiterated his plea for the nation’s many gunmen to turn in their weapons. But few seemed to be listening. The collection points across Mogadishu remained empty, and many young men defiantly vowed to keep their guns.
The Union forces which in one week went from ruling much of Somalia to fleeing into the bush, have vowed to fight a guerilla insurgency against the Ethiopians, whom they consider infidel invaders.
The remnants of the Union army continued to flee south from Kismayo, the port city 160 kilometres from the Kenyan border that had been the Islamist’s final stronghold until their collapse there on Monday.
The Kenyan authorities said 10 fighters were apprehended on Monday as they tried to slip through the border disguised as refugees. Eight had Eritrean passports while two had Canadian passports, Alfred Mutua, a spokesman for the Kenyan Government said. All of them were carrying briefcases packed with cash.
Mr Mutua said the suspects would probably be returned to Somalia to face charges under the transitional government, which has yet to set up a justice system.
The Islamists had earlier tried to improve their military prospects by calling for a global jihad against Ethiopia. But only a few hundred foreign fighters answered the call, the bulk of them from Eritrea, Ethiopia’s archenemy, US officials said.
The Islamists also were believed to be sheltering several wanted terrorists. US officials said they hoped the swift collapse of the Union forces would give them a chance to capture men they have been chasing for years.
Ships from the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, based in Bahrain, meanwhile have increased patrols off Somalia’s coast.
Kenyan on alert as fighting nears border
GARISSA, Kenya (Reuters) – Kenyan soldiers and helicopters bolstered defenses at the Somali border on Wednesday to stop fighting from spilling over after Ethiopian warplanes attacked fleeing Islamists on the other side of the frontier.
A local police commander said a Kenyan helicopter had escaped undamaged after being shot at by Somali militia and an Ethiopian missile targeting Islamists strayed into Kenya late on Tuesday.
The Islamists, who deserted their last stronghold on Monday after two weeks of war against government troops backed by Ethiopian armor, have pledged to fight on after melting into the hills between the Indian Ocean port of Kismayu and Kenya.
The Somali interim government is seeking to install itself in the capital, breaking out from the provincial outpost of Baidoa, which had been threatened when the Islamists took over much of southern Somalia in June.
Residents of Liboi, a Kenyan border post, said they saw Ethiopian war planes flying over the Somali town of Doble, 25 km (15 miles) away, late on Tuesday. They then heard shooting which tailed off after midnight.
“When we heard the gunshots we panicked, although we knew it could be these groups fighting across the border,” said Liboi businessman Abdi Rage.
“The security forces are many here and it is like we are also involved in this fight. Vehicles are moving up and down the border. This is causing tension but at least we feel secure.”
Local police commander Johnstone Limo said the Ethiopian planes were pursuing Islamists nearby.
“Ethiopian planes fired missiles targeting three Somali vehicles. These were allegedly used by the fleeing Islamic forces, and the Ethiopian pilots missed their targets,” he said.
Kenyan Foreign Minister Raphael Tuju denied the report.
Nairobi sealed the border after the Somali government urged it to stop leaders of the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) or foreign jihadist supporters escaping.
Eight suspected combatants were being questioned after they were arrested trying to enter Kenya near Liboi on Sunday.
