From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Mon Jul 13 2009 - 15:56:23 EDT
Somalia's president hails victory, rebels retake lost ground
Jul 13, 2009 - 11:16:04 AM
MOGADISHU, Somalia July 13 (Garowe Online) - Somalia's interim president has
hailed as a 'victory' yesterday's fierce clashes between pro-government
forces and insurgents, where three African Union peacekeepers (AMISOM) in
the capital Mogadishu were among the dead, Radio Garowe reports.
President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed told a Monday press conference at the Villa
Somalia presidential compound that government forces took control of areas
formerly held by insurgents.
"Our troops pushed back the rebels and it was a historic victory," President
Sheikh Sharif said, while referring to two days of fighting in Mogadishu
where upwards of 70 people were killed and more than 150 others wounded.
He claimed that government forces killed a Somali American man who was
fighting alongside insurgents, including Al Shabaab, which is listed as a
terrorist group by the U.S. government.
Peacekeeper deaths
AMISOM peacekeepers were directly involved in Sunday's armed clashes with
insurgents, officials and residents said.
The Ugandan army's spokesman, Maj. Felix Kulayigye, told Ugandan media that
three AMISOM peacekeepers were killed when a mortar slammed into the Villa
Somalia presidential palace, where AMISOM troops stand guard.
The AMISOM peacekeeping mission is composed of 4,200 soldiers from Uganda
and Burundi, but still far short of the 8,000-strong force the AU
authorized.
Local sources reported that AMISOM tanks were involved in the fighting and
backed pro-government forces for the first time since the peacekeepers
arrived in March 2007.
Insurgents 'return'
Islamist insurgents retreated from key districts in north Mogadishu where
yesterday's heavy battles took place, witnesses and government officials
said.
But on Monday, the heavily-armed insurgents had returned to the districts of
Kaaraan, Shibis and Abdiaziz, with witnesses saying the insurgents and
government forces are within striking distance of each other.
There were no reports of fighting on Monday, however.
Sheikh Ali "Dheere" Mohamud, the spokesman for Al Shabaab insurgents,
condemned AMISOM peacekeepers for backing government forces.
"We will make them [AMISOM] feel like the Ethiopians," said the Al Shabaab
spokesman, who was referring to Ethiopia's two-year military intervention in
south-central Somalia that ended in Jan. 2009.
Military tensions remain high in Mogadishu, where pro-government forces and
insurgents are gearing up for renewed clashes. Meanwhile, civilians continue
to flee violent-ridden districts but many civilians have been caught in the
crossfire, according to human rights groups and hospital sources.
Islamist hardliners are attempting to overthrow the Western-backed interim
government in Somalia, led by President Sheikh Sharif, himself a former
Islamist insurgent leader.
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