Somalia Clan Leader Tightens Grip on Strategic Port City
Activities at the sea port in lower Juba regions in Kismayu, Somalia, Feb. 27, 2013
Monday, July 01, 2013
A clan leader opposed by Somalia's federal
government has strengthened his grip on Kismayu after three days of
fighting against rival militias battling for control of the strategic
southern port city, residents said on Sunday.
Scores are feared to have been killed in clashes since Ahmed Madobe,
head of the Ras Kamboni militia, was chosen in May by a regional
assembly to preside over the Jubaland region, where the port lies. He
now appears to have extended his control.
Madobe's election had prompted rival claims to the regional presidency,
including a clan leader viewed as backed by the Mogadishu government,
Barre Hirale. The fighting has raised worries it could spark broader
clan warfare across Somalia.
The African Union peacekeeping force, AMISOM, said the city was now calm
and its troops had intervened to facilitate talks between rivals,
although it said its mission was not to mediate.
"Most of my relatives have been killed today," Faiza Nur, a mother of
seven, told Reuters by telephone, without giving numbers. "I hear the
sound of gunshots far out to the outskirts. I understand Ras Kamboni now
controls all of Kismayu."
The fate of Kismayu is viewed as a test of Mogadishu's skill in building
a federal system of government in a nation riven by two decades of
conflict and still fighting Islamist rebels who were driven from power
by African troops.
The government has said it is ready to compromise but has not spelled
out how. Diplomats with a close knowledge of the Kismayu situation say
Mogadishu is expected to back down and let Madobe hold the presidency,
but only in an interim capacity.
Hunger
A mother of five, Safia Abdulle, said from Kismayu, "This is the third
day we are indoors. The children are very hungry but we cannot go out to
buy food. We have no routes to flee."
Residents said later on Sunday that gunfire had stopped, but said they were still too frightened to go outside.
Controlling the port is a lucrative prize for clan leaders, bringing
with it revenues generated from port taxes, charcoal exports and levies
on arms and other illegal imports.
Residents had said on Saturday they saw more than 20 bodies of those
killed in fighting. Hirale told Reuters the death toll of fighters and
civilians was at least 50 from the street battles that had erupted on
Friday.
Given the clashes and poor communications, it was impossible to obtain a
clear death toll. Dozens of people have been reported killed in earlier
flare-ups since May.
"We are trying to facilitate their talks, but we are not there to
mediate," Colonel Ali Aden Houmed, spokesman for AMISOM in Somalia, said
by telephone, adding that African troops had intervened to restore calm
which he said now prevailed.
Hirale said from Kismayu that Kenyan forces had deployed but said they
had helped Madobe's Ras Kamboni militia. The AMISOM spokesman denied
this, saying African troops were neutral.
Madobe is seen as close to Kenya, which has played a key role clearing
Islamists from the southern port that lies near Kenya's border. Nairobi
acknowledges no such alliance and says its aim with the African forces
is to restore peace in Somalia.
Regional and Western powers worry a slide back into conflict would hand
the ousted al-Shabaab Islamist militants a chance to regroup and spread
their militancy beyond Somalia's borders.
