By Guled Mohamed
Monday, October 30, 2006
"I am ready for jihad. I have a lot of experience. I fought Ethiopia in 1977," the 72-year-old farmer said on Monday as he stood next to a six-wheeled Islamists' truck bearing an anti-aircraft gun.
Earlier, Abdi had greeted the Islamist fighters with a shout of "God is greatest!" at a junction about 30 km (18 miles) from what analysts fear will be the flashpoint of a Somali war that sucks in Horn of Africa rivals Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The Islamist gunmen here are the rear guard of a series of defensive lines arrayed against an opposing force from Somalia's interim government and allies from the far more formidable Ethiopian military.
The Ethiopian presence, there to protect the government of President Abdullahi Yusuf, prompted the militarily powerful Islamists to declare jihad against Ethiopia this month.
A U.N. report says Eritrea is arming the Islamists to frustrate its arch-enemy Ethiopia, which Asmara denies.
Buur Hakaba, a south-central Somali town of maize fields on the road from Islamist-controlled Mogadishu, is their closest base to the only town the fractious government controls, Baidoa.
In the past month, government and allied Ethiopian soldiers have taken it over twice, and twice the Islamists have returned. This time, they came in force.
The rival Somali sides were due to start a third round of Arab League-backed peace talks on Monday, but few expected any progress. At the frontline, the troops expected war.
"We are only waiting for the talks to end. We will attack them," fighter Ismail Yusuf, 21, told Reuters, on a break from his post on along the road and bushlands leading to Baidoa.
'TENSER AND TENSER'
He estimated that at least 3,000 Ethiopians, along with government troops, had moved within 10 km (6 miles) of the Islamist frontline. Another 2,000 were in Baidoa, he said.
"There is a lot of troop movement from both sides. Fighting can start at any time. It's getting tenser and tenser," Islamist gunman Abdinasir Ahmed said.
Ethiopia says it has only sent several hundred armed military trainers to Somalia, but has threatened to crush any attack by Islamists it says are led by militants.
The Islamists have emerged as the most powerful military force in Somalia since seizing Mogadishu in June and advancing across much the country's south, imposing strict sharia law and exploiting traditional Somalia enmity against rival Ethiopia.
In Buur Hakaba, where the ordinarily sere and dusty plains have turned muddy and green with grass from recent rains, Islamist troops are everywhere.
Unlike in most towns at the sharp end of a war ready to break out, most residents say they are not worried.
But the roughly 30,000 people in Buur Hakaba, like most Somalis, have suffered unending mayhem since 1991, when warlords ousted the last national president and ushered in anarchy.
"We have never seen so many troops and weapons like this. We have no fear. The Islamists are here to defend us. At least 250 local residents have registered for jihad. I registered myself five days ago," driver Abdullahi Ibrahim, 30, told Reuters.
And like many Somalis, their public loyalties tend to lie with the strongest.
"The people of Buur Hakaba have chosen sharia law. I have no option but to follow their will," said Mohamed Abdi Hussein, a district chief installed by the government six months ago.
"I am personally ready to please God and take part in the jihad."
Source: Reuters, Oct. 30, 2006