Posted on 01/01/2007 11:00:06 AM PST by blam
Somali Islamic stronghold falls
The Somali army is backed by Ethiopian heavy weaponry
Somalia's Ethiopian-backed government says it controls the southern port city of Kismayo - which was the last stronghold of Islamist militiamen. The Islamists retreated as the army, supported by Ethiopian aircraft, tanks and artillery advanced on the city.
The Somali prime minister urged the African Union to send peacekeepers and offered an amnesty to Islamic fighters.
The Islamists had swept through Somalia last year, and their retreat from Kismayo is seen as a major reversal.
Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Ghedi told AFP news agency: "Kismayo is already in the hands of the government. The Islamists have run away."
Somalia's sudden power shift
The Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) had withdrawn to Kismayo on Thursday, after abandoning the capital Mogadishu.
Mr Ghedi offered an amnesty to Islamist fighters who handed over their weapons, saying they had been "misled by international terrorists".
However he stressed that there would be no amnesty for leaders of the UIC.
The prime minister also called on the African Union (AU) to help stabilise the country.
"We would like the military observers and peacekeepers to come in to help us as soon as possible," he told reporters.
Regional summit
Reports say Ethiopian forces are advancing cautiously into Kismayo, fearing mines and booby traps.
Ethiopian aircraft and artillery are backing Somalia's government
The militias are reportedly retreating south towards the border with Kenya, where security has been reinforced on the Kenyan side in an effort to prevent them from crossing over.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki has called for a summit of East African countries to discuss the situation.
An Islamic commander, Sheikh Yaqub Ishak, confirmed his forces had left Kismayo, but said they would not "stop fighting the Ethiopian invader".
The Islamists have rejected offers of talks with the government, saying Ethiopia must withdraw its forces first.
Ethiopian troops officially entered Somalia on 24 December, joining fighters loyal to Somalia's interim government, to repel an Islamist assault on the government stronghold of Baidoa.
Ethiopia accuses the UIC of harbouring al-Qaeda militants. This is denied by the militia.
The UIC assumed control of the capital in June, driving warlords out and rapidly extending its influence to much of central and southern Somalia.
Some analysts say the UIC's popularity stemmed from its ability to transcend the clan enmities that have bedevilled Somalia since the overthrow of former President Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
The UN estimates that about 30,000 people have been displaced during the fighting, and casualties have been high.
Great news.
--good start--
Excellent news. Another terrorist regime is crushed and destroyed.
Good for Ethiopia. I wonder if the Ark of the Covenant is still down there in Ethiopia, where it was supposed to be hidden...
Regards,
Star Traveler
Yippeeeeee! What a great way to start 2007!
Perhaps this is a new trend. Hopefully this is the first of many more to come.
Attack and repeal terrorists all over the globe. No more appeasements to the Islamic terrorists.
I see that Ethiopia doesn't have a American version of the Democratic party and a liberal media.
If the Ethiopians paid attention to the UN and had antiwar protesters demaning a retreat they could drag this thing out for years and leave thousands of bodies.
It shouldn't be long now before Reuters and the AP will start spouting off about the UIC making a big comeback in Somalia. They love those Islamoterrorist guys.
I already had a liberal say that the Ethiopians drove out the only stability they ever had.
Associated Press
Monday January 1, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Somali government troops backed by Ethiopian tanks today captured the last major stronghold of a militant Islamic movement as all Somalis were ordered to hand over their weapons within three days.
The Somali prime minister, Ali Mohamed Gedi, also offered an amnesty to hundreds of Islamic fighters fleeing south towards the Kenyan border, if they gave themselves up, but offered no amnesty for leaders of the Islamic group. The offer came after the Islamic militants were driven out of the port city of Kismayo following a 13-day offensive by government forces.
"I can confirm to you that our forces have captured Kismayo," Mr Gedi said.
The military advance marks a stunning turnaround for Somalia's government, which just weeks ago could barely control one town - its base of Baidoa - while the Somali Council of Islamic Courts (SCIC) controlled the capital and much of southern Somalia.
Mr Gedi also ordered a nationwide disarmament that comes into effect tomorrow. This is seen as an ambitious pledge as Somalia is awash with weapons after a 15-year civil war.
The prime minister told journalists that warlords and clan militias must abide by the order.
"The warlord era in Somalia is now over. If they fail to heed the orders of the government, the government will forcefully extract weapons from them," he said.
Islamic forces have promised to wage an Iraq-style guerrilla war if defeated.
Among those sought were three al-Qaida suspects wanted over the 1998 bombings of US embassies who the government said were being sheltered by the Islamic group. The government said it hoped to catch them before they slipped out of the country.
The United States had also been asked to provide air and sea surveillance to prevent suspected extremists from escaping, Somali officials said.
The Kenyan president, Mwai Kibaki, in his new year's message, called for an urgent summit of the east African regional body, IGAD, to discus the Somali crisis. And senior western diplomats were pushing for the deployment of an African-led peacekeeping force in Somalia as soon as possible to help stabilise the country.
Government and Ethiopian forces were delaying their entry into Kismayo, which Islamic fighters captured in September, while they cleared land mines.
Hundreds of gunmen who apparently deserted from the Islamic movement began looting the warehouses where the SCIC had stored supplies, including weapons and ammunition.
"Everything is out of control, everyone has a gun and gangs are looting everything now that the Islamists have left," the businessman Sheik Musa Salad said.
The Islamic forces have a base near the Kenyan border on a small peninsula called Ras Kamboni, where there is a pier for traditional ocean-going boats known as dhows.
Ethiopian MiG fighter jets flew low over the ocean looking for boats that might be carrying the escaping Islamic fighters.
The Islamic forces began to disintegrate after a night of artillery attacks at the frontline and following a mutiny within their ranks, witnesses said.
In the past 10 days, the Islamic group has been forced from the capital, Mogadishu, and other key towns in the face of attacks led by Ethiopia.
Somalia's interim government and its Ethiopian allies have long accused Islamic militias of harbouring al-Qaida, and the US government has said the 1998 bombers have become leaders in the Islamic movement in Africa.
"If we capture them alive we will hand them over to the United States," Mr Gedi said.
Islamic movement leaders deny having any links to al-Qaida. But in a recorded message posted on the internet on Saturday, the deputy al-Qaida leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, called on Somalia's Muslims and other Muslims worldwide to continue the fight against "infidels and crusaders".
Mr Gedi accused Mr Zawahri of trying to destabilise Somalia and its neighbours.
The SCIC, the umbrella group for the Islamic movement that ruled Mogadishu for six months, wants to transform Somalia into a strict Islamic state.
Islamic officials said they still had fighters in the capital and were ready for warfare.
Do you ever get the feeling that the liberals (both male and female) actually have a dream of someday wearing a burka, carrying a Koran and being dominated by fanatical morons wearing explosive vests, carrying Kalashnikovs and wearing balaclavas?
-ccm
Thank the Lord that Ethiopia isn't stupid enough to place embedded media in the midst of their war against islamofacists. If you want to make yourself look like evil, treacherous, imcompetent invaders, do what our governement does during war, invite the enemy of freedom and democracy, the MSM, into the front to "report" on the war.
Rock and a hard place!!!!
Don't let any of them get out alive!
Yes...they yearn to be slaves and serfs under
one global domination. They live to be victims
and to lay all culpability for their actions
on the tyrannical owners they work to place
in control of their very lives...that they
may be "moral" and "beautiful" in their
suffering and torture, and inevitable deaths
at the hands of whichever horde of new
Hitlers and stalins and Saddams they fawn
and betray themselves and their families
into the submission of.
They are suicidal death cult feaks and
degenerates.....(spit)
The thing they hate most about Hitler..was
that he was stopped.
have you ever in your wildest dream thought you would be looking at a broken poor country of ethiopia with awe
or is it that they dont have evil media
Just a good guess, but I'd bet the CIA and Special Forces were very hands on with this operation. This is the way it needs to be done. Run the Islamists out before they can take root. That means having surrogate governments ready to go when the need arises.
Screw "running them out"...
Surround and exterminate them!
*That's* the ticket!
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