At least 12 killed in Mogadishu market bombing

By Salad Duhul, Associated Press Writer | December 13, 2007

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Mortars slammed into the biggest market in Mogadishu on Thursday, killing at least 12 people hours after a government official warned radical Muslims had regrouped and were poised to launch a massive attack.

More than 40 people were wounded in the blasts in the Somali capital and the death toll was expected to rise from the latest bloodshed blamed on Islamist insurgents.

“I saw so many dead people lying on the road, I couldn’t even look at them. I was so scared for my life,” said Salah Garweyne, a Mogadishu resident.

At least 40 people were taken to Medina Hospital, and two died on arrival, said Dr. Hassan Osman Isse. Nineteen were in critical condition.

Before the attack, Sheik Qasim Ibrahim Nur, director of security at the National Security Ministry, said the government has “no power to resist the Islamists” and was failing to control most of the country.

“About 80 percent of Somalia is not safe and is not under control of the government,” Nur told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview. “Islamists are planning to launch a massive attack against the (government) and its allied troops.”

Nur appealed for international support, saying the Islamists “are everywhere.”

Relatives claim the body of a civilian, who was killed in a blast, at the Madina hospital in Mogadishu December 13, 2007. REUTERS/Feisal Omar (SOMALIA)

Presidential spokesman Hussein Mohamed Mohamud confirmed that the Muslim group was gaining power, saying: “It is true that the Islamists are regrouping.” He added that they have “a lot of weapons and foreign fighters.”

The comments — a rare acknowledgment by the government that its control is tenuous at best — come amid increasing signs that the Council of Islamic Courts is again gaining power in this Horn of Africa nation.

The group, which controlled the capital and much of southern Somalia for six months, was driven from power last year, when Ethiopia sent crucial military reinforcements, including soldiers and fighter jets. The operation had the tacit approval of the United States, which accuses the group of having links to al-Qaida.

Ethiopian officials were not immediately available for comment Thursday.

The Islamists have launched an Iraq-style insurgency, throwing this already beleaguered nation into bloody chaos. The country is now facing what the United Nations says is the biggest humanitarian crisis in Africa, and a local aid group says some 6,000 civilians have been killed in the fighting this year.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since warlords overthrew a dictator in 1991, and then turned on one another. The current government, led by President Abdullahi Yusuf, was formed in 2004 with the support of the U.N., but has struggled to assert any real control.

Somalia’s top clan says Ethiopians must get out for peace to reign

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AFP)–Ethiopian troops must leave Somalia for the
country’s ailing transitional institutions to garner any legitimacy and a
political solution to emerge, leaders from Somalia’s top clan said Thursday.

The presence in Somalia of the U.S.-backed Ethiopian regime’s troops will
continue fueling violence that has already killed thousands and displaced close
to 1 million in recent months, Hawiye elders said.

On Thursday alone, 13 civilians were killed in Mogadishu, including 11 when
two mortar shells smashed into a market area.

“The problem of Somalia can only be solved by Somalis, we have to meet with
the TFG (transitional federal government), the group of Asmara (opposition) and
find a solution the Somali way,” said Abdulaye Hassan, a Hawiye spokesman.

“That is possible only if the Ethiopians leave,” he said.

The Hawiye clan is the largest in Somalia and is dominant in the capital
Mogadishu, although some divisions exist amongst its numerous sub-clans.

Ethiopian troops, with the U.S.’ blessing, came to the rescue of the
transitional government’s embattled forces in late 2006 after an Islamist
militia took control of large parts of the country.

The Islamists, accused by Washington of ties to Al-Qaida, were swiftly
defeated but have since reverted to guerrilla tactics, carrying out daily
attacks in Mogadishu.

Hassan condemned what he said were systematic arrests of Hawiye clan members
who speak out against the TFG.

“We are sleeping in a different house every night because the TFG is after us,
” he said.

Sirraj Sheikh Hassan, another Hawiye representative, insisted his clan –
frequently accused of supporting radical Islamic insurgents – wasn’t seeking
confrontation.

“We are not armed people but elders who are not happy with the Ethiopian
presence,” he told AFP in Mogadishu. “We are fighting them verbally.”

“The main conflict is now between the group of Asmara and the TFG,” he said. ”
It can only be solved if the Ethiopians leave. There is no other solution than
negotiation.”

The government and allied foreign mediators have so far not engaged in serious
consultations with an opposition movement formed in Asmara in September.

The group, which calls itself the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia,
is led by key political figures from the country’s short-lived Islamist rule and
is hosted by Eritrea, which faces growing international isolation.

The Hawiye say they feel alienated from the country’s center of power.
Although new Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein, is one of theirs, the nation’s
strongman remains more than ever President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed.

Yusuf is from the Darod clan, the country’s second-largest, and cracks have
formed along clan lines in the fragile government.

Somalia is a mainly Muslim country, while Ethiopia has a majority Christian
population. Many Somalis resent what they see as a Christian crusade on their
territory, but the government needs Ethiopia to ensure it retains even a tenuous
grip on power.

“The Ethiopians have been invited by the legitimate government of Somalia,
that is the TFG, to restore peace, law and order in Somalia,” said Interior
Minister Mohamed Mahmud Guled. “So no other authority can ask them to leave.

“The so-called Hawiye representatives don’t represent the Hawiye people and
they are not in a position to stop the fighting because the Shebab (the Islamist
movement’s armed wing) are not under their authority,” he said.

Addis Ababa has said it wants to pull out as soon as possible but argues this
cannot be done before a robust international peacekeeping force is deployed.

In the meantime, violence continues to make Mogadishu one of the most
dangerous capitals in the world and aggravate an already dire humanitarian
situation.

“The insurgents are standing against the new colonization of Somalia by
Ethiopians,” said Nur Jamah Karshe, another Hawiye elder. “Once the Ethiopians
pull out, there will be no more fighting.”