http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2009/06/200962012118631841.html
UPDATED ON:
Saturday, June 20, 2009
18:39 Mecca time, 15:39 GMT
Ethiopia troops 'return to Somalia'
Ethiopian troops previously entered Somalia in 2006 to drive
out the Islamic Courts Union [File: EPA]
Ethiopian troops have reportedly crossed into neighbouring Somalia after
it made a plea for foreign troops to help it battle opposition fighters seeking
to overthrow the government.
Somalia's parliamentary speaker made the request on Saturday after
several days of heavy fighting in the north of the capital, Mogadishu.
"The government is weakened by the rebel forces. We ask neighbouring
countries - including Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Yemen - to send troops to
Somalia within 24 hours," Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur, the Somali parliamentary
speaker, said.
Ethiopian troops last entered Somalia in late 2006 to support the
then-government and drive out Islamic Courts Union fighters led by Sharif
Ahmed, the current president.
Ahmed later joined the government after signing a UN-brokered peace deal
and is now battling former allies from the al-Shabab and Hizbul-Islam groups,
which have vowed to topple his government.
Border security
Al Jazeera's Mohammed Adow, reporting from Nairobi in Kenya, said that it
remained to be seen what action Ethiopian forces would take.
"Ethiopia has got a big stake in what is going on in Somalia because it
believes that its security would be threatened if the Islamist militias, such
as al-Shabab, take over Somalia," he said.
In depth
Profile: Sharif Ahmed
Timeline: Somalia
Inside Story: What next for Somalia
Video: Foreign fighters 'invade' Somalia
Riz Khan: Somalia - From bad to worse
Restoring Somalia
A long road to stability
Al-Shabab: Somali fighters undeterred
Somalia at a crossroads
Somaliland: Africa's isolated state
"But I doubt it is sending its forces into Somalia, unless it gets its
actions sanctioned by the United Nations, which would take weeks, if not months.
"Ethiopia's return to Somalia might be about securing its borders rather
than heading to Mogadishu."
Nur said that he had been forced to call for help after the opposition
fighters had been bolstered by hundreds of foreigners.
"We have a state of emergency in this country today because foreign
fighters from all over the world are fighting the government," he said.
Nur also said that an al-Qaeda operative from Pakistan was directing the
fighting and was based in the Sanna neighbourhood of Mogadishu, close to the
presidential palace.
He did not provide any evidence for his claims.
The United States has previously said that the al-Shabab movement, which
has vowed to topple the government, is supported by al-Qaeda.
Mohamed Sheikh Nor, a journalist in Mogadishu, told Al Jazeera that there
was likely to be heavy fighting if the Ethiopian troops reached the central and
southern areas controlled by the armed opposition groups.
"There will be confrontations and clashes," he said.
"Some of the politicians in the government say, however, that the
Ethiopian troops can help set up the institutions of the government."
Al-Shabab and Hizbul-Islam launched an offensive against government
forces on May 7 and more than 300 civilians are believed to have been killed in
the resulting fighting.
Heavy fighting
There were reports of heavy fighting on Saturday in Hamarweh, another
suburb near the presidential palace, after clashes in the northern Karan
district overnight.
"I saw heavily armed Islamist fighters advancing onto Hamarweh area. They
are firing mortar shells and government forces are retaliating," Warsameh
Ahmed, a Mogadishu resident, told the AFP news agency.
"Kenya had been saying that it will attack the mujahidin of
al-Shabab for the last four months. If it tries to, we will attack Kenya and
destroy the tall buildings of Nairobi"
Sheikh Hasan Yacqub,
al-Shabab spokesman
"It seems they are close to taking control of the area."
Three high-profile government officials - the security minister, an MP
and a senior police officer - have been killed in recent days.
More than 4,300 Ugandan and Burundian soldiers are already deployed in
Somalia as part of an African Union (AU) force and are charged with protecting
strategic sites such as the presidency, the port and the airport.
But the troops are not allowed to fight alongside government forces and
are authorised only to retaliate if they come under direct attack.
Kenya said on Friday that it would not sit by and allow the situation in
its neighbour to deteriorate further as it would destabilise the rest of the
region.
It said that the AU was committed to increasing its commitment, but
al-Shabab had warned against any foreign intervention.
Sheikh Hasan Yacqub, an al-Shabab spokesman, said in the southern port
city of Kismayo: "Kenya had been saying that it will attack the mujahidin of
al-Shabab for the last four months.
"If it tries to, we will attack Kenya and destroy the tall buildings of
Nairobi."
Thousands of residents fled Mogadishu on Saturday, many of them joining
the estimated 400,000 people who are living rough along the Afgooye corridor,
about 20km south of the capital.
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