Monday, April 14, 2008
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Four teachers, including a Somali, two Kenyans and a British national were murdered on Sunday when Islamists took over a town in central Somalia.The murders mark an intensification of violence in Somalia, where attacks specifically targeting civilian foreign nationals have been rare.
Islamists rebels seized Beletwein, a provincial capital in central Somalia on Sunday night.
They stormed a house where the foreign teachers were residing and killed them.
Reports suggested a Somali headmaster and another Somali with a Canadian passport were killed in the town in separate incidents.
The town’s capture is a further indication that Islamists are gaining strength against the weak transitional government.
Mogadishu and other parts of the country were briefly under the control of Islamists in 2006, but the Islamists were defeated by the Somali army, with backing from Ethiopian troops, in January 2007.
Islamists have since regrouped and are gaining strength. There have been almost daily attacks on civilians, security forces and peacekeepers.
Somalia has not had a stable government for 17 years.
Violence has been rampant in Somalia since the beginning of last year, with a death toll of more than 6,500 people.
Washington believes Al-Qa'ida operatives are hiding out in the country and fears Somalia will turn into a terror hub that will engulf the whole of the Horn of Africa.
Source: Media Line, April 14, 2008