From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Wed Sep 03 2008 - 08:58:59 EDT
Somali insurgents vow more attacks during Ramadan Sep 3, 2008
By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Mortar shells slammed into Somalia's capital on
Wednesday as insurgents vowed to intensify attacks during the Muslim holy
month of Ramadan.
Somalia already sees near-daily explosions of bloodshed, and thousands of
Somalis — most of them civilians — have been killed since Islamic fighters
began an Iraq-style insurgency in December 2006, after they were driven from
power in Mogadishu and much of the south.
At least two people were killed early Wednesday, said Abdiqadir Hassan
Hussein, a Mogadishu resident who witnessed some of the fighting and saw two
people killed, a death toll that is expected to rise. Both sides exchanged
mortar and heavy machine-gun fire in a two-hour battle, forcing terrified
residents to cower in their homes.
Wednesday's violence was the worst since Aug. 21, when four hours of
fighting outside the presidential palace killed 12 people and injured 17
others.
The insurgents are trying to topple the government and drive out Ethiopian
troops who are propping up the administration.
"If we die while fasting for the sake of Allah, we will go to heaven," a
26-year-old Islamic fighter, Abdi Yusuf, told The Associated Press by
telephone. "So there is no reason why we shouldn't intensify the fighting."
During Ramadan, Muslims are expected to abstain during daylight hours from
food, drink, smoking and sex, to focus on spiritual introspection. But the
Islamists' spokesman Abdirahin Issa Adow said fighters have "decided to
redouble attacks against the Ethiopians and their stooges during the holy
month of Ramadan," which began this week.
He said the Ramadan attacks do not violate the Quran because his fighters
are battling "enemies of Allah."
Somalia has been at war since 1991, when clan-based militias ousted a
socialist dictator and then fought for power among themselves. The conflict
is complicated by clan loyalties and the involvement of archenemies Eritrea
and Ethiopia, who back opposite sides in the fighting.
The last U.N. peacekeeping force in Somalia included American troops who
arrived in 1992 and tried to arrest warlords and create a government. That
experiment in nation-building ended in October 1993, when fighters shot down
a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter during a battle that killed 18 American
soldiers.
Since then, Ethiopian troops have helped Somalia's shaky transitional
government push the Islamists from power in Mogadishu and much of the south,
but failed to establish security or improve living standards.
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