Posted on 01/21/2007 11:16:07 AM PST by NormsRevenge
MOGADISHU (AFP) - An Ethiopian military convoy was ambushed in a new round of deadly violence in the Somali capital Mogadishu, hours after the African Union agreed to send peacekeepers to the war-torn country.
At least one person was killed in the ambush Saturday, which triggered a major gunbattle in the volatile south of Mogadishu.
Coming in the wake of a brazen attack late on Friday on the residence of the interim president, the AU stabilisation force should be under no illusions about the scale of the task that awaits it.
The interim administration and peacekeepers not only face having to turn round Somalia's reputation for lawlessness but cope with resentment against the presence of the Ethiopian army, which led the drive to oust hardline Islamists from Mogadishu late last month.
The now-vanquished Islamists, who had managed to restore a semblance of order during a six-month stint in Mogadishu, have in turn threatened a campaign of guerilla warfare against the interim government and their Ethiopian allies.
Witnesses said the gunmen who launched Saturday's attack on a convoy of tanks and armoured vehicles had managed to melt away.
"When the Ethiopian tanks were attacked, they were forced to open fire in defence. There was fighting but the gunmen fled," said local resident Mohamed Sheikh Dahil.
Muhidin Roble, another resident of the southern Suqaholaha neighbourhood, said he had seen the body of one male civilian.
"I saw one person killed while he was standing by the roadside and four others were wounded. Three of them are women," he said.
The identity of the attackers behind the assault on Villa Somalia, the residence of interim President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, also remained a mystery since they managed to escape.
While witnesses said the residence, also in southern Mogadishu, had come under attack from mortar shells, a government spokesman said a volley of anti-aircraft missiles had been used.
Spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said the attack appeared to be the work of youths although no-one had yet been apprehended.
"Neither government forces nor our Ethiopian friends suffered any casualties in the attack, which was carried out by simple gunmen to show the international community that Mogadishu is still very unsafe," said Dinari.
Interior Minister and Deputy Premier Hussein Mohamed Aidid pledged that any potential insurgency would rapidly be snuffed out. "Their days are numbered," he told AFP.
Somalia has been without an effective central authority since 1991, when the ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre triggered incessant rounds of fighting between rival warlords. Despite a disarmament agreement between the warlords and Yusuf's government last week, the country remains awash with weaponry.
Yusuf only moved to Mogadishu 12 days ago as the head of a weak administration which had been forced to base itself in the provincial backwater of Baidoa while the warlords and then the Islamists controlled the capital.
But the United Nations believes recent events offer Somalia its best chance of peace in years.
The sense of optimism was bolstered when the African Union finally agreed late on Friday to deploy a force of 7,600 peacekeepers for an initial six-month period.
But only Uganda has so far publicly committed troops and Somalis are wary the continuing violence will act as a deterrent to others.
"This violence will scare off African countries from contributing peacekeepers to replace the Ethiopians," said mother-of-eight Batulla Mohamoud.
"Let us give the Ethiopians time to withdraw and not to give them an excuse to stay longer."
Others however believe the Ethiopians will only leave under duress.
"It is is the responsibility of the Somali people to liberate their country from the Abyssinian (Ethiopian) occupation," said 22-year-old Mogadishu resident Ahmed Abdirahman.
"Let us continue fighting them in every way we can."
Somali policemen run along the convoy of top UN envoy to Somalia Francois Lonseny Fall during his visit to Mogadishu on 18 January. The first green shoots of recovery after nearly two decades of bloodshed have been spotted in Somalia, a month on from the start of fighting which culminated in another change of its endlessly revolving leadership.(AFP/File/Radu Sigheti)
Where are the Rangers when you need them. They have a score to settle, let them drop in and do what they do, unrestrained. It will be over in 48 hours.
They sure don't make "major gunbattles" like they used to!
Muhidin Roble, another resident of the southern Suqaholaha neighbourhood, said he had seen the body of one male civilian.
Civilian: non-uniformed enemy combatant that has managed to ditch his weapon.
"I saw one person killed while he was standing by the roadside and four others were wounded. Three of them are women," he said.
By this time tomorrow, it will have turned into a wedding party.
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