From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sat Sep 06 2008 - 19:43:36 EDT
Somali soldiers defect to UIC
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:25:26 GMT
Somali government soldiers
Amidst rampant violence in Somalia, nine government soldiers escape and voluntarily surrender to the Union of Islamic Courts fighters.
The defectors, eight Somali soldiers and one Ethiopian officer, escaped from their bases in Mogadishu and handed over their weapons to the Union of the Islamic Courts (UIC) fighters, Press TV correspondent in Mogadishu reported Saturday.
The Ethiopian officer said, “I was sent to kill innocent civilians but that is not something good to do for my country.” He stated that he would never return to Ethiopia and wanted to convert to Islam saying that his government was “colonizing the Ethiopian people.”
Despite Mogadishu and Addis Ababa denial of these incidents, defections are becoming more commonplace in Somalia as tensions escalate between the government and the Islamic movement, UIC.
The UIC has been trying to reestablish order in the country after it was ousted by the current Transitional Federal Government backed by Ethiopia and the US in 2007.
Meanwhile, in northern Mogadishu an explosion has killed one student and seriously injured four other people near the Ramadan and Lafweyn hotels.
Fighting in the Horn of Africa nation has claimed the lives of thousands of civilians and displaced nearly a million in a humanitarian crisis which already has to contend with drought, spiraling food prices and an uncontrollable inflation.
False al-Qaeda allegations against UIC
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:03:39 GMT
An AU peacekeeper from Nigeria
The Ethiopian broadcaster, ETV claims that Ethiopian soldiers have killed a high ranking Nigerian member of al-Qaeda in Somalia.
Press TV correspondent in Somalia reports that ETV aired a bulletin saying that Sacad Mohamad Al Sacad, a Nigerian officer of the al-Qaeda network had been killed by Ethiopian troops. Neither the existence of such an individual, nor his affiliations can be confirmed at this time.
The Nigerian government has been sending troops to troubled Somalia since August last year as part of an African Union peacekeeping initiative trying to replace Ethiopian troops whose presence has inflamed the insurgency since they helped Somalia's government oust the Union of Islamic Courts movement at the start of 2007.
The Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, backed by Ethiopia and the United States has repeatedly accused the Islamic elements of the country of having ties to the al-Qaeda group although proof has not been forthcoming.
Fighting in the Horn of Africa nation has claimed the lives of thousands of civilians and displaced nearly a million in a humanitarian crisis which already has to contend with drought, spiraling food prices and an uncontrollable inflation.
Heavy fighting in Somalia's Bardale
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 01:03:46 GMT
Somali gunmen in Mogadishu
Heavy fighting is on-going in the town of Bardale between the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) fighters and Ethiopian troops.
A PressTV correspondent reporting from south Mogadishu says a military vehicle belonging to the Ethiopian troops was destroyed in the melee.
Bardale lies 300 kilometers southwest of Mogadishu, and 60 kilometers west of Baidoa, the seat of Somalia's Transitional Federal Parliament.
The reporter said that the spokesman of UIC, Abdi Rahim Isse Addowfi informed him that over 20 Ethiopian soldiers were killed and 30 more injured. The exact number of killed is not known, Addowfi added.
Meanwhile, residents of Bardale confirmed to our correspondent that many Ethiopian soldiers were killed, while Ethiopian fire killed 12 civilians.
14 civilians killed in Somali violence
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 14:03:31 GMT
Many civilians are killed in Somali violence.
Fourteen civilians are killed in the ongoing fighting between Ethiopian forces and the Islamic Courts Union fighters in Bardale, Somalia.
Women and children are among the civilians killed in the recent clashes between Ethiopian forces and the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) fighters, Press TV correspondent in Somalia reported.
The killings continue as frantic residents flee Bardale, a town located 300 kilometers southwest of the capital, Mogadishu.
Meanwhile, Al-Shabaab militia -the armed wing of the Sharia Courts movement- have taken control of the town of Wanla Weynm, 115 kilometers northwest of Mogadishu and are using local police stations and government bases as command posts. Wanle Weyn is strategically important as it will allow Al-Shabaab to control movements between Mogadishu and Baidoa, the third largest Somali city.
Al-Shabaab was formed in Somalia in the wake of the loss of the ICU at the hands of the Transitional Federal Government and its backers -primarily the military of Ethiopia and the US- in a war in the Horn of Africa nation which has raged since 2006.
Also according to our correspondent, 65 Ethiopian journalists are being held in an attempt by the Ethiopian government to suppress information about the crisis in Somalia.
Somalia urges force against pirates
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:53:47 GMT
A Somali pirate ship
Somali minister urges countries to use force on Somali pirates who have hijacked at least 30 vessels this year in the Gulf of Aden.
The government official from Somalia's northern semi-autonomous region of Puntland, whose name was not given, is appealing to companies and governments to which these ships belong, the ones whose nationals are being held by Somali pirates, not to pay any ransom but to use force.
French navy spokesman, Captain Christophe Prazuck says that the frigate Courbet is on location in the Gulf of Aden, as planned, as part of the multi-national Task Force150 made up of 12 vessels patrolling in the Gulf of Aden to dissuade piracy.
A recent resolution at the United Nations Security Council gave the right to chase pirates into Somalia's territorial waters. French government officials did not say if that option would be exercised, but they said they are ready to intervene if necessary.
Somali gunmen are currently holding about 10 vessels for ransom at Eyl, a lawless former fishing outpost in the Puntland region.
Meanwhile, London-bases Amnesty International, a human rights group, on Friday appealed to Somali authorities to help free scores of hostages seized by pirates off the dangerous coast of the Horn of Africa nation.
It said hijackers were detaining more than 130 crew members of ships captured in Somalia's pirate-infested waters.
It also called on them to "use their influence to ensure that detainees are given immediate and regular access to all necessary medical care and to adequate supplies of water and food," according to a statement.
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