http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/STED-6WAP6N?OpenDocument <http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/STED-6WAP6N?OpenDocument>
Source: Agence France-Presse (AFP) Date: 08 Dec 2006 [Print] Somali Islamists say they will attack government seat MOGADISHU, Dec 8, 2006 (AFP) - Somalia's powerful Islamist movement will attack the seat of the country's weak Ethiopian-backed government after the two sides fought pitched battles south of the town, a spokesman said. "We have defeated them and we are not going to stop our fighting," said Abdurahim Ali Muddey, the spokesman for the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS). "We are going to attack and take Baidoa from them." Speaking to AFP in Mogadishu, Muddey said Friday's clashes near Dinsoor, which he blamed on the government and its Ethiopian allies, would be a precursor to an all-out fight for Baidoa, the only major government-held town. "It was aggression against the Islamic courts," he said. "We have been attacked and we are not going to stop attacking enemy bases wherever they are in the country, including Baidoa." The government was not available to comment, but the Islamists said they were about 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of the seat of government and were continuing to advance. "After the fighting, we took four armed vehicles from the enemy and we are 80 kilomeres away from Baidoa," Muddey said. Heavy fighting erupted at around mid-day (0900 GMT) at a small trading post called Dinsoor, 110 kilometers (70 miles) south of Baidoa and after hours of artillery battles, each side claimed victory. They both confirmed casualities, but did not give the figures. "There are casualities since we all exchange fire, but I cannot confirm the exact number," Muddey explained. Earlier, government's Deputy Defense Minister Salat Ali Jelle claimed victory in the clashes that come two days after the UN Security Council endorsed the deployment of African peacekeepers to protect the enfeebled government. "The Islamists attacked our forces at bases near Dinsoor and we fought but they have suffered very much today," Jelle told reporters in Baidoa. "We completely defeated them," he said. "This fighting has been expected for a long time because these terrorists have been expanding even when we were looking for peace talks. Today they have met their fate." In recent days, the Islamists, some of whom are accused of Al-Qaeda links, and the government have been girding for battle near Dinsoor which the government claimed to have retaken from the Islamists on Tuesday. Government commander Colonel Abdulsak Afgadud described the clashes as the "heaviest of all the recent encounters" with the Islamists but declined to give casuality figures or comment on the Islamist claims of Ethiopian involvement. Residents of Dinsoor could not be reached for comment but Islamist commander Sheikh Mohamed Ibrahim Bilal in Somalia's Bay region, where both Dinsoor and Baidoa are located, told AFP the fighting was fierce. str-bkb/db [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
