Gov't forces enter Mogadishu

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Ethiopian-backed Somali troops entered Mogadishu after Islamist forces left on Nov. 28. Looting and gunfire were reported in parts of the capital, on the ninth day of a conflict which has left hundreds dead. (Report R. Tompsett)

AFGOYE, Somalia, Dec 28, 2006 (AFP) - Ethiopian-backed Somali government troops Thursday entered northern Mogadishu hours after Islamists abandoned the city they had controlled for six months, the country's premier and residents said.
  
"We are already inside Mogadishu in some areas," Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi told reporters in Afgoye township, about 20 kilometres (13 miles) west of the capital.
  
Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Aidid said the developments marked a historic day in the lawless African nation, home to 10 million people.
  
"We (the soldiers) are already in Mogadishu and tomorrow, we (the government) will enter Mogadishu," he added, indicating that government officials planned to go to the capital on Friday.
  
"Today is a historic day for Somalia. It is a day of reconciliation and victory (and) a day of the return of law and order. This victory is Somali people's victory. We are here to bring peace," Aidid said.
  
Earlier, the government declared a state of emergency across the nation and said its priority would be to restore law and order in Mogadishu and to disarm civilians across the nation.
  
Mogadishu residents in the Suuqaholaha district confirmed the troops had entered into the city from the north, where one said that crowds cheered the government forces he saw accompanied by Ethiopian soldiers.
  
"I saw government troops in north Mogadishu. They have fully entered the town. People were cheering and shouting that 'Welcome our government'," said Nur Dirie, another resident.
  
"I am telling you that I also saw Ethiopian forces enter, (they) are now in Suuqaholaha. They are eating bananas and mangoes and I saw them do that," Dirie added.
  
"They have come, the Ethiopian troops!" exclaimed Saney Mumin, a resident said.
  
"I counted 50 Ethiopian armed vehicles. They are now at Masnah military camp (in northern Mogadishu)," he added.
  
"I have seen some government troops who are uniformed enter parts of Suuqaholaha and El-Arsid neighbourhood," said Aweys Ibrahim, a resident of northern Mogadishu.
  
"I never saw Ethiopians, but only government."
  
Mogadishu residents said the government forces had approached the city from the north, northwest and west, effectively surrounding the capital by the land approaches.
  
In Afgoye, Gedi held talks with elders and other local leaders, amid fears that the Islamists were planning to launch a guerrilla war, an AFP correspondent accompanying him reported.
  
Gedi, who travelled on an Ethiopian helicopter, said he had no plans to meet Islamic Courts Union officials.
  
Gedi arrived in this township accompanied by Aidid and police comissioner Ali Madobe, both former warlords who were routed from Mogadishu by the Islamists in June.
  
Fighters backing the government took control of the international airport, the sea port and the presidential palace once Islamists had conducted a "tactical withdrawal" after Ethiopian troops and aircraft began attacking them on December 20.
  
Relief workers said the Islamist leadership told them that their gunmen had been forced to split up into clan-based militia similar to those run by the warlords who held Mogadishu until they were routed in June, when the Islamic Courts Union's power spread over the south and centre of the country.

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