Somalis brace for war
2006-12-15 21:28
Baidoa - Residents of the town housing
Somalia's interim government stocked up with provisions on
Friday as troops tested weaponry ahead of a feared attack by
rival Islamists in the Horn of Africa nation.
"I'm afraid when war breaks out, roads will be closed and
food is going to be unaffordable," labourer and father-of-three
Said Ali Ahmed said at a cafe in the trading town that lies in
the middle of an agricultural area of south-central Somalia.
The Islamists, who took Mogadishu in June and have expanded
across most of south Somalia since, have threatened to attack
Baidoa if Ethiopian troops protecting the government do not
leave by next Tuesday.
That could spark all-out war.
"I don't know where to take my family. When war starts here,
it is going to be everywhere and most of the roads will be mined
as well," added Ahmed.
'Rehearsal'
Adding to the sense of fear, shots rang out late on Thursday
night as government forces tested their arms.
Witnesses reported
seeing tracer bullets and hearing heavy artillery and gun shots
echo for several minutes from the airport side of Baidoa.
"I thought the war we are waiting for had started ... I ran
back to my friend's home and spent the night there," said
resident Abdulkadir Adan, who heard the shots as he walked home.
Deputy Baidoa governor Ibrahim Nur confirmed the shots were
only a rehearsal by government troops.
"This was only a test-fire, not war," Nur said.
Government and Islamist troops face off just 30km outside Baidoa.
Regional diplomats fear fighting could
quickly spread into a regional conflict given that arch-foes
Ethiopia and Eritrea are accused of supporting the government
and Islamists respectively.