Islamists clash with govt troops

2006-12-20 10:06

Baidoa - Forces loyal to Somalia's powerful Islamists clashed on Wednesday with the government troops backed by Ethiopian forces, hours after a deadline expired for Addis Ababa to withdraw its troops or face major attacks.

The Islamists, who controlled swathes of southern and central Somalia and were accused of links to al-Qaeda, had declared a holy war to drive Ethiopian troops from the lawless Horn of Africa country.

Mohamed Abdullahi, resident of the region, said: "Islamic forces have clashed with the government troops in the Idale region. There have been casualties, but I cannot say how many."

Officials in the defence ministry confirmed the clashes in the southern region, but could not provide a casualty figure. The official in the defence ministry said: "There have been clashes in Idale."

Thousands of troops deployed

The clashes took place at the Idale trading post, about 60km south of the seat of government in Baidoa, which was located 250km northwest of the capital, Mogadishu.

The fighting erupted about two hours after the expiration of a deadline set by the powerful Islamic movement for Ethiopian troops to pull out or face major attacks.

Ethiopia had sent several hundred military trainers and advisers to help the Somali government, but denied widespread reports that it had deployed thousands of combat troops to Somalia to forestall a feared Islamist advance towards Baidoa, the only city held by the transitional administration.

Analysts had warned that an all-out war in Somalia would engulf the whole Horn of Africa region, drawing in Ethiopia's arch-foe Eritrea, as both countries were accused of fighting a proxy war in the lawless country.

'Threats do not concern us'

Somalia had lacked an effective administration since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and the two-year-old government had failed to exert control across the impoverished nation of 10 million people.

As a senior Islamist commander said on Tuesday that the decision to attack the Ethiopian troops had already been taken, the transitional government downplayed the fears of war and told the Islamists to stop playing games and resume dialogue aimed at putting the country on a steady path to peace.

Speaking after an emergency cabinet session, information minister Ali Jama called on the Islamists to resume Arab-League mediated peace talks, which collapsed in November, paving the way for a massive military build-up on several frontlines.

Jama said: "The threats do not concern us ... the Islamists are playing games and we are not interested in their games.

"The government will pursue the road to reconciliation and dialogue and we are ready to hold peace talks with the Islamists", adding that the cabinet was discussing the best way to resume dialogue.

Ethiopia declined to comment on Tuesday on the threat by Somalia's Islamists to launch attacks.

- AFP