[R-G] Somali Insurgents Take Another Town North of Capital

[Anthony Fenton]

http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-05-18-voa18.cfm

Somali Insurgents Take Another Town North of Capital
By Derek Kilner
Nairobi
18 May 2009
	
Islamist insurgents in Somalia have captured another town to the north  
of the capital, Mogadishu. Insurgents took control of Mahaday on  
Sunday after seizing the nearby town of Jowhar earlier in the day.

Jowhar and Mahaday are located about 20 kilometers apart, roughly 100  
kilometers north of the Somali capital, Mogadishu. The towns had been  
held by the Islamic Courts Union, an Islamist militia that backs  
Somalia's fragile government in its struggle with hard-line Islamist  
militias.

The loss of the towns cuts off the government's link with central  
Somalia, where pro-government forces still control pockets of  
territory. The area is also the birthplace of President Sharif Sheikh  
Ahmed, marking a symbolic setback for the government.

The radical Islamist Al-Shabab militia, and Hizbul Islam, an allied  
coalition of Islamist militias, launched a coordinated assault on the  
government ten days ago. At least 110 people have been killed by the  
fighting in Mogadishu. Hundreds have been wounded and the United  
Nations says that nearly 34,000 had been displaced by Friday, most of  
them only recently returned to the capital.

The government has accused Eritrea of supporting the insurgents, and  
Gulf Arab states have also been suspected of providing assistance.

The government and its allies now control only a few key landmarks in  
Mogadishu, and some territory around Beledweyn in central Somalia,  
near the border with Ethiopia. Insurgents and pro-government fighters  
have also been clashing in that area in recent days, and reports from  
Somalia indicate that more insurgent fighters may be on their way.

In one positive development for the government, Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed  
Siad, known as "Indha'Adde", a powerful warlord who has been wavering  
between support for the government and the insurgency, said late  
Sunday that he would back the president.

He praised the government's decision to enact Islamic law in the  
country, rejecting the insurgents claim the government's Islamic  
credentials are not strong enough. He said the people of Somalia  
support the government, and he said he would help defend it against  
the insurgents.

The fighting has brought government activities to a standstill. The  
parliament has been prevented from meeting, and many of its members  
have left the country.

The African Union, which maintains a force of about 4,000 Ugandan and  
Burundian peacekeepers in the country has said it may appeal for  
support from the European Union and NATO, which have warships deployed  
off the Somali coast to combat piracy. The African Union has also  
asked the United Nations to deploy peacekeepers, but the U.N. Security  
Council has said the security situation remains too precarious.

When President Sharif, a moderate Islamist and former insurgent  
leader, took office in January many saw it as the country's best hope  
for restoring peace in years. But his government's efforts at  
reconciliation have been rejected by the leaders of the hardline  
Islamist militias, many of whom served alongside President Sharif in  
the Islamic Courts Union that briefly controlled the country in 2006.

That government was removed by Ethiopian troops with American backing.  
The hardline insurgents maintain that, despite his Islamist past,  
President Sharif is, like his predecessor, beholden to Ethiopia and  
the United States.