Islamists open militia camp
2006-08-24 11:12
Mogadishu - Somalia's powerful Islamist movement opened a militia training camp on Wednesday with trainers from Eritrea, Afghanistan and Pakistan, said witnesses.
The presence of foreign trainers pointed to what many feared was a growing internationalisation of a crisis that had split the Horn of Africa nation and threatened the slim authority of its interim government.
The Islamists' hardline leader, Shiekh Hassan Dahir Aweys, attended the opening of the camp for more than 600 Islamist militiamen at Hiilweyne, north of Mogadishu.
Aweys said: "You will study military tactics, because you will defend your country with Islamic morality."
Witnesses identified foreign trainers from Eritrea, Pakistan and Afghanistan at the camp.
Eritrea denies involvement in Somalia
Diplomats feared that Somalia could become a proxy battleground for Ethiopia and Eritrea, and had said that more players like Libya, Iran and Egypt had quietly entered the fray.
Eritrea had long denied any involvement in Somalia, but a United Nations security council report said it had sent weapons to the Islamists repeatedly in a bid to frustrate rival Ethiopia.
Meanwhile, the Islamists said Ethiopian soldiers and a warlord ally of the government had taken a town along the Ethiopian border, stoking fears of new clashes.
Islamist spokesperson Sheikh Mohamed Agaweyne said: "Ethiopia and its allied militia have seized Bandiradley."
No independent confirmation could immediately be obtained. Bandiradley was about 30km west of Qaybdiid's hometown, Galkaayo, and about 25km from the border.
Thousands entered Somalia
Ethiopia had repeatedly denied sending soldiers into its anarchic neighbour, saying such reports were Islamist propaganda.
But, witnesses said thousands had entered the country since July to support the government, and Ethiopia had made no secret of the fact it had massed troops along the Somalia border.
The Islamists, who seized the capital, Mogadishu, and key southern territories in June after routing United States-backed warlords, had refused to negotiate with the government until the Ethiopians leave.
Qaybdiid was one of the last warlords to surrender his militias to the Islamists in a clan-brokered deal in July.
But, tensions had been running high in Galkaayo since he returned there two weeks ago with more fighters and dozens of "technicals" - pickup trucks mounted with heavy weapons.
Qaybdiid was opposed to the Islamists setting up in the town, some 750km north of Mogadishu. One local elder said: "We are scared the fighting could hit residential areas, where there are many women and children."
The Islamists opposed the interim government, based in the provincial town of Baidoa because it didn't have the military strength to go to Mogadishu.