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| Africa Horn |
| Somalia: PM says disarmament mission successful |
| 2007-01-16 |
| (SomaliNet) Somali’s interim Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said on Monday that his government is succeeding the disarmament operations in the capital Mogadishu – amid waves of insurgent attacks against the Ethiopian forces backing the transitional federal government. A news conference held in Baidoa city, 245km or (153 miles) southwest of the capital, premier Ali Gedi commended the security activities done by the government troops along with the Ethiopian forces in Mogadishu for the last few days. “My government is doing a lot to handle the security situation in the country and now controls the economic sources of the capital like the airport and the seaport”, said Gedi. He said the former warlords had agreed to hand over their weapons and militias to the government. “The warlords have signed an agreement with the government to join the federal government and that their militias should join the national army and the government promised it would give the militias their rights as government soldiers”, he added. Premier Gedi stressed that the security forces continue to disarm the militias and the militiamen in the capital. “They are conducting house-to-house search operations in Mogadishu and our forces have seized large number of weapons and that is real progress towards the security,” Gedi said. His comments came hours after the allied forces of Somalia and Ethiopian forces faced an attack from unidentified assailants overnight in northwest of the Somalia capital Mogadishu causing unverified casualties at the scene. This is part of insurgence attacks against the presence of the Ethiopian forces backing up the transitional government. Unknown militiamen launched ambush attack on convoys of the combined forces that passing on the main industry road of Yaqshid district in northwest of the capital. |
| Posted by:Fred |