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Mogadishu residents fear Baghdad blitz


Wednesday, December 27, 2006

 

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MOGADISHU, Somalia (AFP) - Panic-stricken people in Somalia’s capital have voiced fear that Mogadishu may turn into a Baghdad-like hot zone of deadly urban warfare if the Ethiopian-backed government occupies the sprawling city.


Despite braving 15 years of lawlessness, residents were visibly shocked on Monday after Ethiopian warplanes swept low and struck Mogadishu’s main airport before proceeding to a second one in the north, which is believed to be the main supply line for the powerful Islamist movement fighting the government.


“I used to watch the TV, there are killings and explosions in Baghdad everyday. I am afraid our city could be like that if foreign forces take it,” former military officer Yonis Gure told AFP.
“I thought I was not in Somalia” when the bombs came down, said Dahir Guled Farah, a trader at Mogadishu Bakara market, a once-teeming arms bazaar cleaned dry after the Islamists rose to power in June, taking the capital and much of southern and central Somalia.
A growing confidence in the Islamist movement, which had captured Mogadishu from unruly US-backed warlords and took the offensive against Ethiopian-backed government fighters last week, was shaken after the air raids.


“Those courts (Islamists) have gone to war with a powerful government. They could not win this war ... what can they tell us now? They have nothing except saying they are at war,” said shopkeeper Abdulahi Farah Basher.
“Who is going to defend this city from the planes? No one, everyone will run to look for safety,” Basher added.


Ethiopian forces, backing a transitional government based in the only major town it holds, Baidoa, launched an air assault against the Islamists over the weekend on border outposts, saying the Islamists had infiltrated.


A day later, they struck Mogadishu’s international airport and a military airfield in Belidogle, 90km northwest of the capital, to prevent flights and supplies to the Islamists by air.
“There will be urban fighting and more people will die if the government forces and Ethiopian backers take control of Mogadishu,” Gure said.


With Addis Ababa vowing further “targeted” strikes after seizing several Islamist strongholds, many Somalis voiced concern over a possible return of the warlords who lawlessly ruled Mogadishu for years after the 1991 ouster of former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.


“I think the warlords are coming back,” said Haji Duale Nur, an elderly resident of the capital.
“We hear that the former rulers have returned to Beledwein and others are trying to come to Mogadishu. They are getting Ethiopian backing. May Allah save us from the dangers we are facing,” he prayed.


At the same time, the Islamists, who retreated for “tactical reasons”, said they would now wage a long-term war against Ethiopia, which accuses them of terrorist links and threatening its security.
Several shops remained closed a day after the unprecedented air raids with many residents fearing to venture out of their houses.


“I have decided to stay in my house with my wife and children because I am not sure what’s next,” said Basher, who also shut his shop after the attack. “Ethiopian planes have started bombing down our capital ... tomorrow I think it will be on the buildings where people live,” he added.

 

Source: AFP, Dec 27, 2006

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