Somalia's Shebab vow all-out war against
government
12 February, 2010 | By Mustafa Haji Abdinur (AFP)
---------------------------------------------------------------
drawing heavy retaliatory shelling, left five civilians dead and 20 others
wounded.
At the Nasreddin mosque in southern Mogadishu, Sheikh Muktar
Robow Abu Mansur, a top military leader with the Shebab, said his
movement was ready to face an onslaught by the Western-backed
government.
"You are aware of the recent indiscriminate shelling of the enemy
against our people. This war is a religious obligation for all of us to go to
and fight them," Robow told the crowd after prayers.
"The soldiers of Allah are now fully prepared to launch attacks to
eliminate the enemy from the country," he said.
The Shebab control around 80 percent of southern and central Somalia
and since his election a year ago, President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and his
administration have been pinned down in a small area of the capital.
"Our promise is to engage in all-out war against them. Are you going to
be with us?," he shouted, rousing the crowd of faithful who roared back
with a resounding "Yes".
Robow, whose group last month officially declared it was a component
of Al Qaeda's global jihad, explained to his audience that their struggle
was not simply to remove Sharif from power.
"All the mujahedeen in the country are ready to unite for this battle. This
war does not only concern our country but the holy warriors will also
assist our brothers fighting in Yemen, Afghanistan and Chechnya," he
said.
Hundreds of people in the city of Baidoa, west of Mogadishu, also
gathered after prayers in the stadium, chanting "Allahu Akbar" (God is
great) and listening to speeches urging war against the government and
its allies.
"Today we are here to show our determination in the current situation.
The enemies of Allah have allied to fight but we are also united against
them," Shebab official Sheikh Ibrahim Ali told AFP.
In Elashabiyaha, a village overflowing with displaced people near
Mogadishu, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, whose Hezb al-Islam
movement is allied to the Shebab, held a rally.
While the guessing game continued on the date of the great offensive's
launch, tension mounted in Mogadishu as combatants on both sides took
up their positions and the city centre continued to bleed its civilian
population.
"The Shebab militants and their allies fired on our forces near Florenza,
in Bondhere district, and in the Shibis area this morning," Colonel
Mohamed Ali, a senior government security officer, said.
"It was a kind of provocation but our forces defended their positions,
responding with heavy machineguns and anti-aircraft weapons," he said,
adding that two of his men were wounded.
Ali Muse, the head of Mogadishu's ambulance services said the
government troops' retaliatory fire killed civilians in residential areas.
"The crossfire and stray mortars hit civilian-populated areas in northern
Mogadishu and our ambulance teams have collected five bodies and 20
other injured civilians," Muse told AFP.
President Sharif, a young Islamist cleric who fought the Ethiopian
invasion, was described by Washington and others as Somalia's best
hope for peace in years when he was elected a year ago.
But he failed to bring hardline Islamists back into the fold, and
international military and financial support was initially sluggish.
Observers say the offensive, likely to be the largest military operation in
Somalia in three years, is a make or break endeavour for Sharif's
administration, which has been unable to assert its authority on the
country.
Courtesy
government
12 February, 2010 | By Mustafa Haji Abdinur (AFP)
---------------------------------------------------------------
- MOGADISHU — Somalia's Shebab-
led rebels rallied support after Friday
prayers and vowed all-out war as the
conflict-riven country braced for a
huge nationwide government
offensive to crush insurgents.
As residents poured out of the capital
in recent days, Islamist fighters
poured in to face off with newly-
trained government forces backed by
African Union troops ahead of the
battle.
- A skirmish that broke out early
Friday when fighters from the
drawing heavy retaliatory shelling, left five civilians dead and 20 others
wounded.
At the Nasreddin mosque in southern Mogadishu, Sheikh Muktar
Robow Abu Mansur, a top military leader with the Shebab, said his
movement was ready to face an onslaught by the Western-backed
government.
"You are aware of the recent indiscriminate shelling of the enemy
against our people. This war is a religious obligation for all of us to go to
and fight them," Robow told the crowd after prayers.
"The soldiers of Allah are now fully prepared to launch attacks to
eliminate the enemy from the country," he said.
The Shebab control around 80 percent of southern and central Somalia
and since his election a year ago, President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and his
administration have been pinned down in a small area of the capital.
"Our promise is to engage in all-out war against them. Are you going to
be with us?," he shouted, rousing the crowd of faithful who roared back
with a resounding "Yes".
Robow, whose group last month officially declared it was a component
of Al Qaeda's global jihad, explained to his audience that their struggle
was not simply to remove Sharif from power.
"All the mujahedeen in the country are ready to unite for this battle. This
war does not only concern our country but the holy warriors will also
assist our brothers fighting in Yemen, Afghanistan and Chechnya," he
said.
Hundreds of people in the city of Baidoa, west of Mogadishu, also
gathered after prayers in the stadium, chanting "Allahu Akbar" (God is
great) and listening to speeches urging war against the government and
its allies.
"Today we are here to show our determination in the current situation.
The enemies of Allah have allied to fight but we are also united against
them," Shebab official Sheikh Ibrahim Ali told AFP.
In Elashabiyaha, a village overflowing with displaced people near
Mogadishu, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, whose Hezb al-Islam
movement is allied to the Shebab, held a rally.
While the guessing game continued on the date of the great offensive's
launch, tension mounted in Mogadishu as combatants on both sides took
up their positions and the city centre continued to bleed its civilian
population.
"The Shebab militants and their allies fired on our forces near Florenza,
in Bondhere district, and in the Shibis area this morning," Colonel
Mohamed Ali, a senior government security officer, said.
"It was a kind of provocation but our forces defended their positions,
responding with heavy machineguns and anti-aircraft weapons," he said,
adding that two of his men were wounded.
Ali Muse, the head of Mogadishu's ambulance services said the
government troops' retaliatory fire killed civilians in residential areas.
"The crossfire and stray mortars hit civilian-populated areas in northern
Mogadishu and our ambulance teams have collected five bodies and 20
other injured civilians," Muse told AFP.
President Sharif, a young Islamist cleric who fought the Ethiopian
invasion, was described by Washington and others as Somalia's best
hope for peace in years when he was elected a year ago.
But he failed to bring hardline Islamists back into the fold, and
international military and financial support was initially sluggish.
Observers say the offensive, likely to be the largest military operation in
Somalia in three years, is a make or break endeavour for Sharif's
administration, which has been unable to assert its authority on the
country.
Courtesy
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