Islamist rebels moved Friday into a small town on the outskirts of Somalia's capital near a checkpoint manned by Ethiopian troops, sparking fears among residents of renewed fighting.Al-Shabaab fighters moved into Al-Asha town overnight, and are now 2 kilometers from Sinkadheer, where Ethiopian troops are based. Sinkadheer is 15 kilometers southwest of Mogadishu. "We have been fighting to get peace, we shall defend the people around Al-Asha and nearby areas from robbers or Ethiopians," said Sheikh Abdel-Rahim Isse Adow, a spokesman for the Islamic Courts Union whose fighters were alongside Al-Shabaab members in Elasha.
The Al-Shabaab movement was part of the Islamic Courts Union when it was in government in 2006, having brought the first semblance of rule in years to large parts of central and southern Somalia. The Islamists were ousted from power in early 2007 as Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia at the behest of the Somali interim government, a UN-backed body formed in exile that, at the time, only controlled a small portion of the country along the Kenyan border.
The Islamists, who launched an insurgency after being pushed from power, had briefly occupied Al-Asha on Thursday.
Al-Shabaab has been gaining territory in southern Somalia. In the past week, it has taken control of three towns and briefly occupied three others in the south. On Wednesday, the Islamists seized Merka, a strategic port 90 kilometers southwest of Mogadishu used by the UN World Food Program for food aid deliveries, giving Al-Shabaab its closest foothold yet to Mogadishu.
Al-Shabaab have rejected a UN-negotiated pact to set up a power-sharing administration between the interim government and some moderate opposition figures, vowing to continue the fight until Ethiopian soldiers leave Somalia.
Many residents in Al-Asha have already fled fighting in Mogadishu and were afraid renewed clashes would cut off the supply of food aid. "We do not know where to evacuate to again if Ethiopian troops and Al-Shabaab clash around our camps. We have no hope of getting relief food," Alasey Jimcale, a mother of four in Al-Asha, said. "Mogadishu is not a place to go back to."
Also Friday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned that hundreds of thousands of Somalis face a major famine due to violence and a drought that is ravaging the center and south of the country. "We are seeing a major deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Somalia," said Pascal Mauchle, head of the organization's delegation for the country.