BELEDWEYNE (Mareeg) –At least five people have been killed and seven others have been injured in fierce fighting between rival Islamist groups in Beldedweyne town in central Somalia, witnesses said on Tuesday.
Three children are among those who were wounded in the clashes between Hizbul Islam and al Shabaab of one side and Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a.
The fighting started on Monday evening in Elgal village about 15 km north of the town but it escalated in the town early on Tuesday.
Combatants from the warring sides ware also included those who died on Tuesday’s fighting. A mortar injured the children after it landed on their house.
Residents say the fighting has died down, but the situation in the town was still tense as the rival groups were regrouping.
The fighting enters the fourth day and more civilians have fled from the town in fear for their lives.
Source:mareeg.com/
Showing posts with label Fight for Town in Somalia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fight for Town in Somalia. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Somalia insurgents capture central town, loot aid offices
Somalia’s main insurgents groups of Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam have reportedly captured the strategic central town of Beledweyne, the capital of Hiiraan region after battling out with pro-government militia Ahul Sunnah Wal Jama’a.
The clashes erupted on Friday morning in villages near the town with Hizbul Islam and Ahlu Sunnah engaging in heavy gun battle.
The battle in the villages have allowed Al-Shabaab fighters to attack the town and chase away the few remaining pro-government militia, who have since retreated to a El Gal village, located some 15 km from Beledweyne.
The clashes have since claimed the lives of at least five combatants from both sides, according to witnesses.
On the other hand, militias loyal to Hizbul Islam have reportedly looted The offices of the United Nations health agency WHO and Save the Children in Beledweyne.
According to witnesses, the incident happened shortly after the town’s take over with Hizbul Islam militia disarming the guards and chasing away the local agencies workers before looting the valuables in the offices.
"The armed militia entered the offices and took the equipments and weapons. We have also seen the workers, who were blindfolded, being evicted,” said an eyewitness who requested not to be named.
The looting of the aid agencies is seen as a new habit for insurgents because similar incidents targeted on UN offices were reported in rebel-held areas across the war-torn nation.
Al-Shabaab has banned several aid agencies from working in areas under its control with the UN food agency WFP being the latest casualty after being forced to halt its food distributions in the southern Somalia due to threats and extortion by Al-Shabaab.
The fighting in Beledweyne, which strategically connects the capital Mogadishu to central Somalia, comes barely two weeks after bloody battle between same armed groups which claimed the lives of hundreds and displaced thousands others
Source:garoweonline.com/
The clashes erupted on Friday morning in villages near the town with Hizbul Islam and Ahlu Sunnah engaging in heavy gun battle.
The battle in the villages have allowed Al-Shabaab fighters to attack the town and chase away the few remaining pro-government militia, who have since retreated to a El Gal village, located some 15 km from Beledweyne.
The clashes have since claimed the lives of at least five combatants from both sides, according to witnesses.
On the other hand, militias loyal to Hizbul Islam have reportedly looted The offices of the United Nations health agency WHO and Save the Children in Beledweyne.
According to witnesses, the incident happened shortly after the town’s take over with Hizbul Islam militia disarming the guards and chasing away the local agencies workers before looting the valuables in the offices.
"The armed militia entered the offices and took the equipments and weapons. We have also seen the workers, who were blindfolded, being evicted,” said an eyewitness who requested not to be named.
The looting of the aid agencies is seen as a new habit for insurgents because similar incidents targeted on UN offices were reported in rebel-held areas across the war-torn nation.
Al-Shabaab has banned several aid agencies from working in areas under its control with the UN food agency WFP being the latest casualty after being forced to halt its food distributions in the southern Somalia due to threats and extortion by Al-Shabaab.
The fighting in Beledweyne, which strategically connects the capital Mogadishu to central Somalia, comes barely two weeks after bloody battle between same armed groups which claimed the lives of hundreds and displaced thousands others
Source:garoweonline.com/
Twenty-four dead in renewed fighting in central Somalia
MOGADISHU, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in renewed clashes between rival Islamist groups in central Somalia have risen to 24 while more than 50 others were injured in fighting raging for the consecutive fourth day, witnesses and health officials said on Wednesday.
The latest flare up of violence erupted between fighters loyal to the Islamist rebel movement of Hezbul Islam backed by its ally of Al Shabaab and the moderate pro-government Islamist sect of Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama.
Both sides have been fighting over the strategic central Somalia town of Beledweyne which has changed hands between the two sides for the past two days. Latest reports indicate the two sides partly control the town while sporadic fighting still continues in and around the town.
Both sides claim to have inflicted heavy losses on the other side but hospital sources in the region say that nearly 24 people mostly combatants from the warring sides were killed while more than 50 others were reportedly injured in the fierce clashes that continued for control of the town and adjacent districts.
Many civilians in the combat areas were reported to have fled their homes as the two sides exchanged heavy artillery in and around residential areas in Beledweyne, the provincial capital of Hiran region in central Somalia which has lately been in the hands of Hezbul Islam militias.
The pro-government Ahlu Sunna fighters control most districts in the central Somalia province of Galgaduud and Mudug and have been trying to take Hiran and its environs from the radical Islamist faction of Hezbul Islam which is allied to the Al Shabaab faction, a group that controls much of south and centre of Somalia.
Al Shabaab and Hezbul Islam factions are opposed to the internationally recognized Somali government. The groups, seen as terrorist entities, want to overthrow the Somalia government and create an Islamic state in the war-torn east African country of Somalia.
Source:news.xinhuanet.com/
The latest flare up of violence erupted between fighters loyal to the Islamist rebel movement of Hezbul Islam backed by its ally of Al Shabaab and the moderate pro-government Islamist sect of Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama.
Both sides have been fighting over the strategic central Somalia town of Beledweyne which has changed hands between the two sides for the past two days. Latest reports indicate the two sides partly control the town while sporadic fighting still continues in and around the town.
Both sides claim to have inflicted heavy losses on the other side but hospital sources in the region say that nearly 24 people mostly combatants from the warring sides were killed while more than 50 others were reportedly injured in the fierce clashes that continued for control of the town and adjacent districts.
Many civilians in the combat areas were reported to have fled their homes as the two sides exchanged heavy artillery in and around residential areas in Beledweyne, the provincial capital of Hiran region in central Somalia which has lately been in the hands of Hezbul Islam militias.
The pro-government Ahlu Sunna fighters control most districts in the central Somalia province of Galgaduud and Mudug and have been trying to take Hiran and its environs from the radical Islamist faction of Hezbul Islam which is allied to the Al Shabaab faction, a group that controls much of south and centre of Somalia.
Al Shabaab and Hezbul Islam factions are opposed to the internationally recognized Somali government. The groups, seen as terrorist entities, want to overthrow the Somalia government and create an Islamic state in the war-torn east African country of Somalia.
Source:news.xinhuanet.com/
Italy offers Somalia help, urges others to follow
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Italy offered on Thursday to help form an anti-terrorist police force for Somalia and urged other international donors to fulfil pledges of support for the beleaguered government in the Horn of Africa nation.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told reporters after meeting Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed that Italian military police, or Carabinieri, were ready to train such a force in neighbouring Kenya.
Two rebel groups hold sway in much of southern and central Somalia and the government controls only a few blocks of the capital Mogadishu, propped up by a 5,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force, Amisom.
Western nations say the chaos in Somalia, which has lacked central government since 1991, is giving Islamist militants a safe haven to train and plot attacks in the region and beyond.
"We offered to President Sharif to form a very robust anti-terrorist police for Somalia," said Frattini after their talks in Kenya's capital Nairobi.
The Amisom force has prevented insurgents from overrunning the capital and driving out the Western-backed government, but government troops have made little headway against the rebels.
Fighting since the start of 2007 has killed more than 21,000 Somalis and driven 1.5 million from their homes. Washington accuses one rebel group -- al Shabaab -- of being al Qaeda's proxy in the country.
The chaos on land has also allowed piracy to flourish in the busy shipping lanes off Somalia. The International Maritime Bureau said there were 217 attacks last year by Somali pirates.
Source:af.reuters.com/
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told reporters after meeting Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed that Italian military police, or Carabinieri, were ready to train such a force in neighbouring Kenya.
Two rebel groups hold sway in much of southern and central Somalia and the government controls only a few blocks of the capital Mogadishu, propped up by a 5,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force, Amisom.
Western nations say the chaos in Somalia, which has lacked central government since 1991, is giving Islamist militants a safe haven to train and plot attacks in the region and beyond.
"We offered to President Sharif to form a very robust anti-terrorist police for Somalia," said Frattini after their talks in Kenya's capital Nairobi.
The Amisom force has prevented insurgents from overrunning the capital and driving out the Western-backed government, but government troops have made little headway against the rebels.
Fighting since the start of 2007 has killed more than 21,000 Somalis and driven 1.5 million from their homes. Washington accuses one rebel group -- al Shabaab -- of being al Qaeda's proxy in the country.
The chaos on land has also allowed piracy to flourish in the busy shipping lanes off Somalia. The International Maritime Bureau said there were 217 attacks last year by Somali pirates.
Source:af.reuters.com/
Pirate Attacks Off Somalia Nearly Double
The International Maritime Bureau in London reports piracy incidents on the high seas increased nearly 40 percent in 2009 from a year ago. Pirate activities off the coast of Somalia accounted for more than half of all attacks worldwide.
In its annual report, the maritime watchdog said the number of attacks off the coast of Somalia doubled in 2009 from 111 to 217. According to the bureau, pirates successfully hijacked 47 of those vessels and took 867 crew members hostage, earning them untold millions in ransom payments.
The director of the International Maritime Bureau, Captain Pottengal Mukundan tells VOA that although the number of attacks was significantly higher, the number of successful hijackings were proportionately lower than the previous year.
"In the Gulf of Aden, from the 8th of July until the 28th of December, there were no vessels hijacked although the attacks continued. And that is because of the actions taken by the naval forces there and secondly, because of the maneuvering and self-protection measures taken by ships going through that area," he said.
The Gulf of Aden, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, was the main target of Somali pirates in 2008. Relentless pirate attacks and dozens of hijackings in the area prompted the United States, the European Union, China, Russia, India and other nations to send warships to protect commercial and private vessels transiting the narrow waterway between Somalia and Yemen.
As many as 30 warships now patrol the gulf at any given time.
But the focus on protecting the Gulf of Aden has had a negative effect in the Indian Ocean, particularly off the southern and eastern coasts of Somalia.
Using hijacked vessels as "mother ships" to tow fast skiffs and to utilize as floating homes, pirates can operate far from shore for weeks at a time. Since October, the International Maritime Bureau has recorded 33 attacks on ships in the Indian Ocean. The bureau says 13 vessels have been seized.
Mukundan says he believes fighting piracy in the vast Indian Ocean requires a different approach.
"It is the key risk area, where we do not have the naval protection that we have in the Gulf of Aden," he said. "In that environment, it appears that the tactical response is very strong, robust action to be taken against the mother ships, which launch these attacks. And more effort should be made to identify clusters of these mother ships. We need assets to board them, to inspect them and not allow them to carry on with these illegal activities. That is what is required."
Mukundan says piracy in other African waters is also on the rise with 28 attacks reported off the coast of Nigeria in 2009.
Source:voanews.com/
In its annual report, the maritime watchdog said the number of attacks off the coast of Somalia doubled in 2009 from 111 to 217. According to the bureau, pirates successfully hijacked 47 of those vessels and took 867 crew members hostage, earning them untold millions in ransom payments.
The director of the International Maritime Bureau, Captain Pottengal Mukundan tells VOA that although the number of attacks was significantly higher, the number of successful hijackings were proportionately lower than the previous year.
"In the Gulf of Aden, from the 8th of July until the 28th of December, there were no vessels hijacked although the attacks continued. And that is because of the actions taken by the naval forces there and secondly, because of the maneuvering and self-protection measures taken by ships going through that area," he said.
The Gulf of Aden, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, was the main target of Somali pirates in 2008. Relentless pirate attacks and dozens of hijackings in the area prompted the United States, the European Union, China, Russia, India and other nations to send warships to protect commercial and private vessels transiting the narrow waterway between Somalia and Yemen.
As many as 30 warships now patrol the gulf at any given time.
But the focus on protecting the Gulf of Aden has had a negative effect in the Indian Ocean, particularly off the southern and eastern coasts of Somalia.
Using hijacked vessels as "mother ships" to tow fast skiffs and to utilize as floating homes, pirates can operate far from shore for weeks at a time. Since October, the International Maritime Bureau has recorded 33 attacks on ships in the Indian Ocean. The bureau says 13 vessels have been seized.
Mukundan says he believes fighting piracy in the vast Indian Ocean requires a different approach.
"It is the key risk area, where we do not have the naval protection that we have in the Gulf of Aden," he said. "In that environment, it appears that the tactical response is very strong, robust action to be taken against the mother ships, which launch these attacks. And more effort should be made to identify clusters of these mother ships. We need assets to board them, to inspect them and not allow them to carry on with these illegal activities. That is what is required."
Mukundan says piracy in other African waters is also on the rise with 28 attacks reported off the coast of Nigeria in 2009.
Source:voanews.com/
Somalia Press Day celebrated in Puntland State
The annual 21st January Somali Press Day was on today Wednesday celebrated in Somalia's autonomous state of Puntand with the ceremony held at the office of the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation in the administrative capital Garowe.
The ceremony was attended by Puntland government officials including Vice President Gen. Abdisamad Ali Shire, Ministers, MPs, poetries and journalists from different parts of Puntland.
Vice President Shire who was addressing the guests said the media is important for the community, society welfare, specifically expressing his gratitude to journalist operating from the region for their role in covering political change when the new president was elected 8th of January, 2009.
He however appealed to the journalists the strengthen and uphold the good relation between Puntland media and the government agencies.
"I am requesting from Puntland journalists not to broadcast everything against the stability and development, Puntland respects the rights of the journalists, and we are waiting from the journalists to work on how they can help in Puntland growth," said the Vice President.
Media Association of Puntland (MAP) deputy chairman and the director of Radio Garowe Mohamed Dahir Yusuf (Salim) who addressed the participants, condemned the last year's violence against Puntland journalists.
Mr. Salim pointed that the region are better if compared to what their colleagues in southern Somalia are going through
Puntland Information Minister Abdihakin Ahmed Guled said: "I am sure that Puntland journalists are intelligent and know their work, but they need to upgrade their education and to point the right way they can go forward, we wish to make new college of journalism in Puntland."
He added: "We want to make Television, Radio and Newspaper which talks the voice of the government."
The ceremony, which was attended by 7 different radios and two newspapers, was concluded with common stand and pledge for better working conditions for media.
Source:garoweonline.com/
The ceremony was attended by Puntland government officials including Vice President Gen. Abdisamad Ali Shire, Ministers, MPs, poetries and journalists from different parts of Puntland.
Vice President Shire who was addressing the guests said the media is important for the community, society welfare, specifically expressing his gratitude to journalist operating from the region for their role in covering political change when the new president was elected 8th of January, 2009.
He however appealed to the journalists the strengthen and uphold the good relation between Puntland media and the government agencies.
"I am requesting from Puntland journalists not to broadcast everything against the stability and development, Puntland respects the rights of the journalists, and we are waiting from the journalists to work on how they can help in Puntland growth," said the Vice President.
Media Association of Puntland (MAP) deputy chairman and the director of Radio Garowe Mohamed Dahir Yusuf (Salim) who addressed the participants, condemned the last year's violence against Puntland journalists.
Mr. Salim pointed that the region are better if compared to what their colleagues in southern Somalia are going through
Puntland Information Minister Abdihakin Ahmed Guled said: "I am sure that Puntland journalists are intelligent and know their work, but they need to upgrade their education and to point the right way they can go forward, we wish to make new college of journalism in Puntland."
He added: "We want to make Television, Radio and Newspaper which talks the voice of the government."
The ceremony, which was attended by 7 different radios and two newspapers, was concluded with common stand and pledge for better working conditions for media.
Source:garoweonline.com/
Rival Islamists Fight for Town in Somalia
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Shabab rebels, who control most of Somalia with allied Islamist groups, on Saturday attacked a town lost to moderate Islamists about a year ago.
It appeared late Saturday that the moderate Islamists had kept control of the town, Dusa Marreb, in central Somalia, although the Shabab earlier claimed victory. The battles killed 10 people, witnesses said.
The two groups have been fighting each other elsewhere in Somalia for months. The group that had been controlling Dusa Marreb, Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama, had chased out the Shabab in December 2008 and vowed to challenge the Shabab in other areas to “restore stability and harmony in Somalia and achieve a genuine government of national unity.”
Residents of the town say they evacuated it when they heard gunfire early Saturday morning.
“I and my children immediately fled outside the town,” Khadiija Ali said. “I was preparing breakfast for my family, when the bullet sound shocked me. We were not expecting such fight.”
The assault came a day after the Shabab, which have increasing ties with Al Qaeda, tried to attract international media attention by vowing to send fighters to help insurgents in Yemen.
The United States has been helping the Yemeni government combat a branch of Al Qaeda, an effort that is likely to continue, with President Obama saying Saturday that the group sponsored the attempt on Dec. 25 to bring down a jet bound for the United States.
Western governments have been hoping that Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama and other moderate Islamists can repel Somalia’s increasingly powerful extremists. Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama, a Sufi militia, has been one of the more successful groups in fighting the Shabab, who are fearsome fighters.
The weak transitional government in Somalia controls a small enclave in Mogadishu, the capital, under the protection of African Union peacekeeping troops.
Source:nytimes.com/
It appeared late Saturday that the moderate Islamists had kept control of the town, Dusa Marreb, in central Somalia, although the Shabab earlier claimed victory. The battles killed 10 people, witnesses said.
The two groups have been fighting each other elsewhere in Somalia for months. The group that had been controlling Dusa Marreb, Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama, had chased out the Shabab in December 2008 and vowed to challenge the Shabab in other areas to “restore stability and harmony in Somalia and achieve a genuine government of national unity.”
Residents of the town say they evacuated it when they heard gunfire early Saturday morning.
“I and my children immediately fled outside the town,” Khadiija Ali said. “I was preparing breakfast for my family, when the bullet sound shocked me. We were not expecting such fight.”
The assault came a day after the Shabab, which have increasing ties with Al Qaeda, tried to attract international media attention by vowing to send fighters to help insurgents in Yemen.
The United States has been helping the Yemeni government combat a branch of Al Qaeda, an effort that is likely to continue, with President Obama saying Saturday that the group sponsored the attempt on Dec. 25 to bring down a jet bound for the United States.
Western governments have been hoping that Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama and other moderate Islamists can repel Somalia’s increasingly powerful extremists. Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama, a Sufi militia, has been one of the more successful groups in fighting the Shabab, who are fearsome fighters.
The weak transitional government in Somalia controls a small enclave in Mogadishu, the capital, under the protection of African Union peacekeeping troops.
Source:nytimes.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)