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Residents Flee As Islamic Militia Prepares To Recapture Somali Town
Somali government troops and heavily armed Islamist fighters have gathered on Sunday around Burhakaba, a strategic southern Somali town, a day after it was captured by government troops. Reports say that the residents of the town are fleeing as a conflict between the Somali government troops and the Islamic militia have become imminent as the Islamists have threatened to launch a counter-attack to recapture the town if the government troops does not withdraw. The interim government has in turn refused to withdraw its forces from Burhakaba. The capture of the Burhakaba town by the interim government troops is seen as a challenge to the authority of the Union of Islamic Courts of Somalia who controls most of the country. Hundreds of Islamists pledging to recapture the town of Burhakaba have converged on the nearby town of Lego. The UIC Islamists have accused Ethiopia of supporting the forces of the weak interim government of Somalia, but both Somalia's interim government and Ethiopia have denied any direct Ethiopian involvement in the capture of Burhakaba. However diplomatic sources say that at least 6,000 Ethiopian troops are now inside Somalia supporting the interim government of Somalia. Sunday's stand-off is the closest the two sides have come to a full-scale confrontation. Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-10-22 |
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