SOMALIA: Mixed reactions in Mogadishu as Somali government troops and Ethiopian allies take control of former U.S. embassy

Somali government troops and their Ethiopian allies took control of the former U.S. embassy building in Mogadishu on Friday (December 29), tightening their hold on the capital after Islamist rivals fled. The embassy compound, in a western neighbourhood of the coastal city, was abandoned more than a decade ago after U.S. forces made a humiliating retreat from Somalia following an ill-fated mission. Government forces took effective control of Mogadishu on Thursday (December 28) after a 10-day offensive with Ethiopian allies to reclaim much of the territory seized by the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) since June. Mogadishu's streets were mostly calm and residents began venturing out of their homes. Most of the people who drove in together with the government forces had never set foot in Mogadishu since chaos erupted there 16 years ago. "Today is the first time I am in Mogadishu in 16 years, I am very excited that I am here with the people of Somalia, residents welcomed us without a problem," said presidential co-ordinator Abdi Wahid Mohamad Hassan. "Today, I enjoy myself with what is going on in Mogadishu. I can't imagine we are chewing together with friends," said resident Aden Omar Osman. But the welcome was not universal. In a northern part of the city, hundreds of protesters took to the streets and stoned Ethiopian army trucks. The trucks drove on without responding, but the demonstrators set fire to tyres in the road and chanted anti-Ethiopian slogans. The flight of the Islamists was a dramatic turn-around in the Horn of Africa nation after they had spread across the south imposing strict sharia rule and confining the interim government to its base in the provincial town of Baidoa until less than two weeks ago. The front-line in the region of the town of Buur Hakaba bore witness to some heavy fighting. Ethiopian troops and government forces had taken Buur Hakaba on Thursday (December 28) without major resistance as the Islamists retreated and the reinforcement they had called in could not help. However, the Islamists insisted their withdrawal and re-grouping was a tactic in what they vowed would be a long war. There were some casualties as numbers of bodies littered the streets. Islamic courts militia who were captured during the war were all held in a jail in Buur Hakaba. The wreckage of military vehicles and charred bodies were strewn across the battlefield. Even elderly fighters came out in support of the government forces and the victorious troops were clearly welcomed in this town. "I am part of the soldiers who want to defend the country," said Ali Abdullahi Hussein, 74, a former Somalia soldier. Somalia has been without effective central government since 1991 when warlords toppled former president Mohammed Siad Barre. With Eritrea accused of backing the Islamists, many feared the conflict could engulf the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia, like the United States, says the Islamists are supported by al Qaeda.

ITN Source | December 30, 2006

Tags:. .resistance. .elderly. .chaos. .provincial. .offensive