By Guled Mohamed
Sunday, January 07, 2007
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Gunmen attacked Ethiopian troops in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Sunday, residents said, as Somali and U.S. officials vowed to work together to stabilise the chaotic state.
In the second day of violence in Mogadishu directed at Ethiopian troops, Somali gunmen opened fire on Ethiopian forces backing the interim government.
"Fierce fighting went on for 15 minutes. I could hear sounds of heavy machine guns rattling," a resident, who lives nearby and declined to be named, said, adding that the fighting was so fierce it lit up the whole area.
A witness said a young girl was killed in the shootout at the site where just days ago a hand grenade was thrown at Ethiopian soldiers.
"The insurgents came with two vehicles and opened fire at government forces holding defences outside a compound where the Ethiopian soldiers are staying," a government source said.
"The Ethiopians were inside. Fighting ensued. Heavy fire was exchanged, one anti-tank rocket was launched by the insurgents."
A taxi driver in the area said three trucks carrying Ethiopian soldiers were attacked first: "It was a very heavy exchange. I was forced to lie down to avoid being hit," he said.
He added that the gunmen fled.
The violence came after Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi and Washington's top diplomat for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, met in Nairobi.
Frazer has been shuttling around the region as Western and African diplomats discuss an African peacekeeping force for Somalia after two weeks of war that saw Ethiopian and government troops force out Islamists who had captured much of the south.
Frazer has said Washington was donating $16 million (8 million pounds) to help fund the proposed force and she has called for dialogue between Somali groups, including "remnants" of the Islamist movement.
After meeting Frazer, Gedi said: "We are going to work together for the stabilisation of Somalia."
In scenes reminiscent of the lawlessness associated with Mogadishu, which largely stopped during six months of strict Islamist rule, crowds hurled stones and burnt tyres on Saturday to demonstrate against the forces that ousted the Islamists.
Witnesses said three people, including a young boy were killed when Ethiopian troops and protesters exchanged shots. A government source said only one person was killed in gunfire between protesters and police.
On Sunday, hundreds of Somali government soldiers patrolled the streets where the protests had taken place.
DEMONSTRATIONS
In the southcentral town of Baladwayne, hundreds took to the streets demanding Ethiopian troops free a military commander detained for refusing to hand over an ousted Islamist because of a government amnesty offer to the defeated movement.
The government, which was confined to the provincial town Baidoa, now wants to install itself in the capital, one of the world's most dangerous cities.
It had given Mogadishu residents until last Thursday to hand in their weapons or be disarmed by force. A government spokesman told local radio on Saturday the programme was postponed.
Few weapons have been handed in so far, as residents fear Mogadishu could slide back into the anarchy and clan violence that had gripped the city since the 1991 ouster of a dictator.
Hours after the Islamists fled, militiamen loyal to warlords reappeared in the city where they used to terrorise civilians.
President Abdullahi Yusuf asked Addis Ababa to train Somali forces, Ethiopian state television said on Saturday, after the Somali leader met Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Meles has said his troops will leave Somalia within weeks.
Any prolonged Ethiopian deployment would likely anger many Somalis who resent the presence of soldiers from their militarily superior neighbour, which has invaded Somalia several times in what Addis Ababa calls defensive missions.
Yemen's Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi, meanwhile, was quoted as saying some Islamist leaders had arrived in Yemen, creating an opportunity for talks with Somalia's government.
Some Islamists have vowed to fight on. Residents say they have melted into the hills in Somalia's remote southern tip where Ethiopian and government forces are hunting them. Kenya has sent troops to seal its frontier.
(Additional reporting by Ibrahim Mohamed in Jowhar, Wangui Kanina and George Obulutsa in Nairobi)
Source: Reuters, Jan 07, 2007