Militants take key Somali town, warlord defects
By Abdi Sheikh and Ibrahim Mohamed
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Militant Islamist fighters captured a
strategic town north of Mogadishu on Sunday, leaving government
forces isolated in pockets of the country's capital and central
region after two weeks of heavy clashes.
In a sign of some disarray among militant ranks however, a former
warlord and powerful opposition leader defected to the government
side over the weekend.
President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's United Nations-backed government --
the 15th attempt to establish central rule -- is struggling like
predecessors to contain powerful insurgents, currently led by
hardline militant al Shabaab.
"Al Shabaab captured Jowhar after serious fighting on Sunday
morning," resident Ismail Farah told Reuters. "At least seven
people including four civilians died."
Jowhar, Ahmed's hometown, is 90 km (56 miles) from Mogadishu and
links it to the volatile central region where local sources say 68
people have been killed in clashes between al Shabaab and a
moderate Islamist group since Friday.
Over the past two weeks, fighting in southern Somalia has killed at
least 172 civilians and wounded 528 others, according to a local
rights group.
Somali Security Minister Omar Hashi Aden said the militants were
being supported from outside. He has previously accused Eritrea of
arming the insurgents, a charge Asmara denies.
"They are fighting in Mogadishu, and central Somalia. They have
also started a war in Jowhar. They are economically and militarily
supported ... it is not cheap to sustain fighting."
Eighteen years of conflict have destabilised the region, sent tens
of thousands across the border, and drawn foreign militants and a
flood of arms to the Horn of Africa nation.
Pirates have taken advantage of the anarchy with ever bolder
attacks on international shipping. Nearly 30 hijackings so far this
year have set it on course to be the worst ever.
DEFECTION
In a much-needed boost for the government, former warlord and
powerful opposition leader Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siad, also known as
"Inda'ade," defected to its side over the weekend.
"The opposition are bandits," Inda'ade told reporters. "We shall
defend the Islamic government. They (opposition) do irreligious
acts, and they kill innocent people."
Inda'ade's former group, Hizbul Islam, confirmed the defection but
said it would not change anything. "(Inda'ade) and his troops have
left us and joined the government ... but that will not affect us,"
said Hassan Mahdi, spokesman for the group.
Hizbul Islam is an umbrella opposition group including militant
leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, seen as a powerful figure among
insurgents. Aweys said Inda'ade had given most of his weapons to
him before defecting.
The International Crisis Group think tank said Somalia's opposition
groups had become deeply divided. "There is now a battle shaping up
between reportedly moderate Muslims and the extremists, such as
Al-Shabaab," it said.
On Friday and Saturday, fighting between Shabaab and a moderate
Islamist group in two central towns killed some 68 people and sent
3,300 others fleeing from their homes, pro-government forces and a
rights group said.
"We have killed 47 al Shabaab fighters including a white man in
Mahas and Wabho," Sheikh Abdullahi Sheikh Abu Yusuf, spokesman of
the moderate Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca, told Reuters, adding that three
of their fighters had been killed.
The Mogadishu-based Elman Peace and Human Rights group said 18
civilians were killed in those clashes, and that 3,300 people had
fled their homes. "Fighting continues non-stop in those areas,"
said Yasin Ali Gedi, vice chairman of the group.
(Additional reporting by Mohamed Ahmed and Abdi Guled; writing by
Jack Kimball; editing by Philippa Fletcher)