| Yesterday they were assaulting. Today they're preparing. C'mon guys, don't turn French on us. |
MOGADISHU, Somalia - Somali troops backed by Ethiopians prepared to launch a major assault Friday on the last stronghold of Islamic movement militiamen. U.S. Navy warships were patrolling off the Somali coast to prevent the militiamen from escaping by sea.
But sharks lined up waiting for service at Allan's Snackbar.
The Somali and Ethiopian force captured a southern town near the Kenyan border Thursday evening. Col. Barre "Hirale" Aden Shire, the Somali defense minister, said Islamic militiamen were dug in with their backs to the sea at Ras Kamboni at the southernmost tip of Somalia.
"Today we will launch a massive assault on the Islamic courts militias. We will use infantry troops and fighter jets," said Shire, who left for the battle zone on Friday. "They have dug huge trenches around Ras Kamboni but have only two options: to drown in the sea or to fight and die."
Somalia's interior minister said Thursday that 3,500 Islamic fighters are still hiding in the capital.
| They look just like civilians, they do. Ask our guys in Iraq for details. |
Kenya closed its border amid fears militants would slip across the frontier. The U.N. said thousands of refugees are also near the border, unable to seek safety in Kenya.
Residents of Mogadishu, Somalia's ruined seaside capital, have been on edge since the government took over. The city is still teeming with weapons, and some of the feared warlords of the past have returned to the city with their guns.
"What do you think, Achmed?"
"I dunno, I just feel ... on edge!" |
Ethiopian MiG fighter jets and tanks were vital to helping the weak Somali military rout the Islamic movement. Now, though, Ethiopia wants to pull out in a few weeks, saying its forces cannot be peacekeepers and cannot afford to stay.
| Yeah, let's replace the effective Aethiops with ineffective Nigerian, Angolan or Bangladeshi troops. There's the ticket to peace right there. Just hide the young women. |
The ease with which Somalis can get weapons is a major problem. Thursday was Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi's deadline for residents to voluntarily give up their arms, but only a handful were seen doing so. But Gedi said the disarmament program was working.
Gedi swore in thousands of troops to the army Friday who had served under Siad Barre's regime. Most were well over 50, wore old uniforms and carried no weapons.
Hassan Hashi Mohamed, 60, said he saved his camouflage uniform for 16 years. "They called on us from the radio, so we came here," Hassan Hashi Mohamed, 60, said from a former base of Barre in Mogadishu, where the troops had gathered. "We are old now, but we will get some young men too." |