Somalia’s Islamist al Shabaab rebels pulled out of key positions
in the war-torn and famine-struck capital Saturday, with the country’s
president proclaiming the city “fully liberated.”
“Mogadishu has been fully liberated from the enemy, and the rest
of the country will soon be liberated too,” Sharif Sheikh Ahmed told
reporters.
The al-Qaeda affiliated al Shabaab
insurgents abandoned several strategic positions overnight that were
then taken over by government troops.
“We are very happy — the fruits of bloodshed and the wars that we fought against the rebels are finally attained,” Ahmed said.
The
significant development occurred after clashes late on Friday and early
Saturday between the militia and government forces and their allies.
Ahlu
Sunna wal-Jamea, a moderate Islamist group, and the African Union
Mission in
|
A Somali government soldier brings down a flag belonging to the
Al-Shabaab rebel group near what used to be the group’s headquarters in
the Yaqshid district in Mogadishu on August 6, 2011. The rebels pulled
out of key positions in the war-torn and famine-struck capital.
Photo/AFP |
Somalia (Amisom) were instrumental in the rout.
Key positions lost by the rebels include the rebels’
main base in the city, Mogadishu Stadium, and Warshadda Baastada (a
former pasta factory), a strategic location used by the insurgents to
control the capital’s northern districts.
Most of the
confrontation took place at Bondhere, Howl-wadaag and Wardhigley
districts. Pro-government forces moved in from different directions
forcing the al Shabaab fighters to dramatically abandon Mogadishu in
hundreds of vehicles.
“The clashes were very intense
and all sorts of light and heavy weapons were employed,” a resident in
Yakshid, who asked not to be named, said.
“Before
dawn, we saw many vehicles with all kinds of belongings heading towards
the northern outskirts of Mogadishu,” added the eyewitness.
Some
of the last positions vacated included Tawfik and Huriwa districts and
the strategic Suuqa Xoolaha, the main trading centre in northern
Mogadishu.
Most of the retreating fighters headed
towards Lower Shabelle and Middle Shabelle regions, respectively south
and north of Mogadishu.
The al-Shabaab fighters had provoked the latest fighting by waging widespread attacks on pro-government forces.
Spokesman
Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Raghe alias Sheikh Ali Dhere, told al-Shabaab
supporters via Al-Andalus, a radio station run by the movement, that the
group was changing war tactics.
“We are going to operate from the upcountry regions, vowing to
come back to wage more attacks on the Transitional Federal Government
and on Amisom,” he said.
The Sheikh asserted that American and French fighters had joined the latest war against al-Shabaab.
African
Union-backed government troops have been battling al Shabaab rebels in
Mogadishu in an offensive to secure aid delivery routes for victims of
the drought threatening some 12 million people in Somalia and other Horn
of Africa countries.
“We have two enemies to fight —
one of them is the al Shabaab, while the other is those who try to rob
the people,” president Ahmed said.
“We will not tolerate looting, and anyone found committing such a crime will be brought to justice.”
Lawless
Somalia is awash with rival militia factions. On Friday, food aid being
handed out to famine victims in Mogadishu was looted by gunmen, who
killed five people.
The al Shabaab fighters are waging a bloody campaign to
overthrow the country’s Western-backed transitional government, and
control large areas of the south and centre of the country.
Until
Saturday morning, government and AU troops controlled just over half of
Mogadishu, including the airport and port, while the al Shabaab
controlled the city’s north-east.
“The enemy is
defeated, they pulled out of Mogadishu — and we will fight them to
eliminate them from the rest of the country,” Somalia’s prime minister
Abdiweli Mohamed Ali said.
Since February, Amisom with its 9,000 Ugandan and Burundian soldiers has clawed back key positions from the insurgents.
Major
Paddy Ankunda, a spokesman for the AU’s Amisom force in Somalia, said
they were reacting cautiously to the al Shabaab’s move.
The
al Shabaab pullout will likely be a major economic blow to the rebels,
whose control of Mogadishu’s main Bakara and Suuqbaad markets have in
the past netted the group up to $60 million annually through taxes,
according to a UN report released last month.
However,
the pullout is unlikely to bring an end to conflict in Somalia, with
pro-al Shabaab websites stressing the fight would continue.
“The
move will enable the al Shabaab to gain the upper hand over the African
invaders,” one website read, referring to the Amisom force.
The UN has estimated that nearly half of Somalia’s estimated 10
million people require humanitarian assistance — the majority in areas
controlled by the al Shabaab, which expelled key foreign aid groups two
years ago.
The UN has officially declared famine for the first time this
century, including Mogadishu and in four southern Somali regions,
warning that famine could still spread further.
The
UN’s Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit describes Somalia as “the
most severe humanitarian crisis in the world today and Africa’s worst
food security crisis since Somalia’s 1991-92 famine.”
