By SALAD DUHUL
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The Somali government has shut down three independent radio stations in two days, journalists said Tuesday, as troops backed by Ethiopian soldiers continued to battle Islamic insurgents in the shrapnel-strewn streets of the capital.
Radio Simba and Radio Banadir went off the air Tuesday morning, a day after Shabelle Media Network was ordered to shut down.
All three stations are based in the capital, Mogadishu, where Ethiopian forces have been cracking down since several Ethiopian troops were killed, mutilated and dragged through the streets last week.
Ali Muhumad Adan, deputy director of Banadir Radio, and Mohamed Shiil of Radio Simba said security officers ordered them to stop broadcasting, giving no reason. Jafar Kukay, acting director of Shabelle, said he and another executive were briefly detained Monday when dozens of soldiers shut down the network.
"A top government official who spoke to us told us that the radio is closed until an unspecified time," Kukay said. "We have seen this many times and always expected this to happen because there are many who are not happy with independent radio."
Government security officials were not immediately available for comment. They previously have accused independent media of making false reports to stir up opposition to the government. Only two news stations in the capital remain on air.
Somalia has not had a functioning government since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned their heavily armed supporters on each other. The arid Horn of Africa nation is flooded with weapons and divided between warring clans.
Last year, an Islamic alliance seized the capital and the country's south — but were pushed out in December with the help of Ethiopian troops.
Since then, Mogadishu has been wracked by violence, with the Islamists vowing to wage an Iraq-style insurgency. Thousands of Somalis have been killed.
Scores of civilians have been caught in the crossfire between the soldiers and the insurgents, and machine-gun fire could be heard in southern Mogadishu on Tuesday.
For the past few days, hundreds of families have been seen fleeing the capital along the main roads. Humanitarian agencies say more than half of Mogadishu's residents have left.
Doctors say they are running low on supplies, with clinics overwhelmed by the number of wounded.
Associated Press writer Mohamed Olad Hassan contributed to this report.
SOURCE: AP, November 13, 2007