SOMALIA: More than 100 armed militiamen defect from government seat in Baidoa to Islamists in Mogadishu

More than a hundred government soldiers arrived in Mogadishu on Friday (December 15) after defecting from the government base in the central town of Baidoa. The soldiers drove in with their pick-up trucks, some with heavy anti-aircraft machineguns mounted on them. They were welcomed by senior Islamic Courts Union officials. Witnesses and experts say thousands of Ethiopian solidiers are in and around Baidoa, including providing a personal protection force for President Abdullahi Yusuf. The defecting troops said that they took more than a month to travel from the government lines to the Islamists positions. "We were on the road from Baidoa to Mogadishu for forty days because we wanted to join the Islamic courts forces." said Farhan Abshir Nageye, after arriving in Mogadishu. The Mogadishu-based Islamists' defence chief vowed on Tuesday to strike if Ethiopian troops protecting the government at Baidoa, the only town it controls, do not leave by December 19. The ultimatum has increased fears of a new war in the conflict-riven nation, mired in anarchy since the ousting of a dictator in 1991. Arch-foes Ethiopia and Eritrea are accused of arming the government and Islamists respectively, so many fear fighting in Somalia could quickly spread into a regional war. Islamist leaders who received the defectors called on more people to abandon the government lines. "I would like to call all the soldiers in Baidoa to come to us and join the Islamic courts forces because you are our brothers." said sheikh Mukhtar Robow, the deputy defence chief of the Islamists. The Islamists' have declared a jihad against Ethiopia for their support of the embattled Somali government. Adding to the sense of fear in Baidoa, shots rang out late on Thursday night as government forces tested their arms. Witnesses reported seeing tracer bullets and hearing heavy artillery and gun shots echo for several minutes from the airport side of Baidoa.

ITN Source | December 16, 2006

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