Somali president says U.S. backs warlords

[Al-khiyal]

At least 23 reportedly killed in Mogadishu unrest

MOGADISHU, October 17, 2008 -- At least 23 people were killed in the Somali capital Mogadishu when African Union and Ethiopian troops on Thursday retaliated to Somali insurgents attacks on their camps, witnesses and police said.

The insurgents shelled bases housing AU peacekeepers and Ethiopian troops in southern Mogadishu's K4, Shirkole and Hamarjadid quarters, drawing retaliatory fire. Somali forces joined the battle to support the peacekeepers, they said.

Witnesses said several residents were also wounded in outlying districts in some of the heaviest fighting in Mogadishu, the epicentre of heavy clashes for nearly two decades.

"I saw four civilians, one of them a woman, and an insurgent fighter killed in Taleh area. The civilians were caught in the crossfire," said witness Hasan Yahye.

Colonel Farah Abdullahi, a Somali policeman, said two officers were killed in the clash between AU troops and insurgents.

Sixteen other civilians died in fighting between Ethiopian troops and insurgents, bringing the death toll to 23.

"Four civilians died and three others wounded when an artillery shell hit their house near a vegetable market in Bakara," Osmail Adan, a witness said.

Another witness reported five fatalities in a Bakara teashop.

A family of three was killed when a mortar crashed into their house.

A man and woman were killed when a shell crashed into a telephone booth in Bakara.

"It was terrible, I saw my friend die as a result of serious injuries caused by a mortar shell that destroyed his telephone booth. A woman also died after shrapnel cut her to pieces," said Ali Osman, a witness.

Witness Sirad Nur Roble said two other civilians were killed elsewhere in Bakara, one of the most volatile zones in the battle-wracked seaside capital.

Witnesses said the shells destroyed residential and business premises in Mogadishu, where hundreds of thousands of residents have fled the bloody duels for dominance in the recent months.

While visiting a northern Kenyan refugee camp for Somalis, French Secretary of State for Human Rights Rama Yade urged the warring parties to push ahead their reconciliation process in a bid to reach lasting peace.

A moderate wing of the insurgents is currently in talks with the government at UN-sponsored talks in Djibouti, but the hardliners want to see the Ethiopian troops gone out of Somalia before talks could begin.

"Because there is no peace without justice, we (France) are in favor of the creation of a commission to investigate war crimes committed in Somalia by all parties to put an end to the impunity that has reigned in the country since 1991," she said.

The AU force in Somalia, AMISOM, has been in Mogadishu since March 2007 and currently numbers around 3,400 troops, from Uganda and Burundi.

The figure is far below the 8,000 peacekeepers the AU pledged to deploy in Somalia to bolster the country's weak government and protect humanitarian operations.

Aid groups have scaled down operations in Somalia because of growing insecurity.

Ethiopia invaded Somalia in 2006 to oust the Islamic Courts Union, which controlled of much of the country's central and southern regions with relative peace and prosperity until the Ethiopian invasion that backs an embattled transitional government.

Since the Ethiopian invasion, Somalia had plunged into unprecedented chaos, where warlords and pirates have returned to the scene.

Somali civilians have often been killed during Ethiopian retaliation to insurgent attacks.

[Al-khiyal]

Another UN aid worker killed in Somalia

MOGADISHU, October 20, 2008 -- A UN children's agency aid worker was shot dead in southern Somalia at the weekend, in the second deadly attack on a United Nations employee in the last few days, a local UN official and witnesses said Monday.

A colleague said Muktar Mohamed Mohamoud, who was with UNICEF's water and sanitation and hygiene project, was shot in the head on Sunday in front of a tearoom in Hudur, some 430 kilometres (270 miles) southwest Mogadishu.

"Several men armed with hand guns shot him twice in the head and chest and he died instantly," the local UNICEF officer said.

"He was off duty and was spending time with relatives when he was gunned down."

Witness Abdullahi Farah Mumin said the gunmen shot him, then opened fire into the air and dispersed the crowd before escaping.

On Friday, a World Food Programme aid worker was killed as he came out of a mosque in the coastal Somali town of Merka.

Aid groups said last week that 24 aid workers - 20 of them Somalis - had been killed so far this year in Somalia, while more than 100 attacks against aid agencies had been reported.

[Al-khiyal]

Wave of car bombs kills 24 in Somalia

Mogadishu, October 30, 2008 • Five suicide car bombs ripped through key targets in the northern Somali regions of Somaliland and Puntland yesterday, killing 19 people as well as the five bombers, officials said.

The self-declared state of Somaliland was rocked as three simultaneous blasts ripped through its de facto capital Hargeysa. The presidential palace, Ethiopia's diplomatic compound and the offices of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) were all hit.

Two separate offices of an interior ministry body tasked with combatting terrorism were also hit in Puntland's economic capital Bosasso. Only the two suicide bombers were killed.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the apparently coordinated bombings but US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Jendayi Frazer said they bore the markings of Al Qaeda.

Ethiopia, which backs the fragile Somali government in its long-running war with Islamist insurgents and has thousands of peacekeepers in the Horn of Africa nation, said four of its nationals were among the 19 fatalities.

At least 18 people were wounded in the Somaliland attacks, police said.

"We are still conducting (an) investigation but what is clear is that terrorist groups are behind the attacks," Somaliland police spokesman Abdi Dahir Said said.

He said the presidential secretary was among the dead.

[Al-khiyal]

Security stepped up after Somalia attacks

MOGADISHU, October 30, 2008 -- Massive security reinforcements were deployed in Puntland and Somaliland Thursday, after an unprecedented wave of suicide attacks and amid fears the conflict in central Somalia was spreading.

Investigations were underway to identify the perpetrators of the bombings in the two breakaway Somali regions, which drew international condemnation and came as regional leaders gathered in Nairobi in a bid to boost peace efforts in Somalia.

At least 20 people were killed in addition to the three bombers when three suicide car bombs struck Hargeysa, the capital of Somaliland.

The simultaneous attacks struck the presidential palace, the United Nations Development Programme's compound and Ethiopia's diplomatic representation.

"We are still conducting investigations and many of our security forces are deployed in Hargeysa to check all moving vehicles," police officer Ahmed Hashi said.

Residents said thousands of police and soldiers were patrolling the streets and setting up checkpoints.

"We are collecting samples of the materials we found around the targeted areas and we will also try to check the DNA of the attackers," an investigator said on condition of anonymity.

"I hope we will get some positive results in our investigations soon."

The neighbourhood housing the three targeted building was completely sealed off Thursday, but residents and witnesses of the attacks said the force of the blasts was huge.

"I was in my office on the other side of the palace when this huge explosion rocked the whole compound," presidential palace employee Mohamed Isa said. "The ceiling collapsed over me and clouds of smoke filled the building."

"The suicide bomber's vehicle was fortunately blocked by another car and could not reach any further area but burning shrapnel and human remains were found some 100 metres away," he added.

Security was also beefed up in Bosasso, the economic capital of the neighbouring northern breakaway region of Puntland, which was hit by two near-simultaneous suicide car bombs. Investigators continued to comb the wreckage of Wednesday's explosions.

"A sufficient number of policemen and other security forces have been deployed all over the region, particularly in Bosasso in order to check the movement of vehicles," police official Abdirahaman Yusuf said.

Presidential adviser Bile Mohamoud Qabowsade claims the bombers had been identified and were believed to have been trained by Al-Qaeda.

"What we have is that the attackers were trained by Al-Qaeda, according to the evidence we have collected, but investigations are still underway," he said.

Witnesses also said that a prominent cleric, Sheikh Mohamed Ismail, was arrested at his home.

"Police raided Sheikh Mohamed's house outside Bosasso and arrested him. I do not know whether others were also detained but I saw the sheikh onboard a police truck," said Abdulaziz Mohamed Abdurahman, a neighbour and local elder.

The Ethiopian army invaded Somalia in late 2006 to rescue Somalia's embattled transitional government and oust the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which controlled of much of the country's central and southern regions.

The ICU had ruled much of Somalia with relative peace and prosperity until the Ethiopian involvement.

Since then, ICU fighters have waged a deadly insurgency against the Ethiopian and the transitional government forces.

But Ethiopian troops’ retaliations have caused many casualties among Somali civilians.

Since the Ethiopian invasion, about one million Somalis have fled their homes. An estimated 6,500 civilians have been killed.

Aid workers estimate 2.6 million Somalis need assistance. That number is expected to reach 3.5 million by the end of the year if the humanitarian situation does not improve, according to the UN.

In May 2008, Amnesty International accused the Ethiopian troops in Somalia of increasingly resorting to throat-slitting executions, highlighting an "increasing incidence" of gruesome methods by Ethiopian forces that include rape and torture.

Since the ousting of the ICU, Somalia had plunged into unprecedented chaos, where warlords and pirates have returned to the scene.

Many in Somalia see the departure of Ethiopian troops as a precondition to peace negotiations.

[Al-khiyal]

Somalia’s Sheikh Sharif returns home

MOGADISHU, November 1, 2008 -- Somalia's top Islamic political leader, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, returned to his Jowhar stronghold, north of Mogadishu, two years after being ousted by an Ethiopian invasion, a local official said.

Sheikh Sharif, who has spent most of the two years in exile, flew in from Nairobi with a delegation from his Islamic Courts Union (ICU) movement, a key step in light of his acceptance of a UN-sponsored deal to bring back stability.

"The delegation led by Sheikh Sharif has landed at the Jowhar airstrip and they were taken to the town where they will meet the people," said a local ICU official, Sheikh Abdullahi Ahmed.

Thousands of people had gathered in the town, located around 90 kilometres (55 miles) north of Mogadishu, to greet the influential cleric on his return to the area.

The 44-year-old Sharif, who is the chairman of the opposition umbrella movement Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), signed an agreement last month in Djibouti for an Ethiopian troop pullback and a ceasefire.

The town of Jowhar is currently held by the ICU.

While the ICU's political leadership largely fled to Eritrea after the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia, the movement's military and youth wing, the Shebab, switched to insurgency.

The Shebab, which rejected the Djibouti deal, have relentlessly targeted Ethiopian troops and recently made substantial territorial gains in southern and central Somalia.

The Ethiopian army invaded Somalia in late 2006 to rescue Somalia's embattled transitional government and oust the ICU, which controlled of much of the country's central and southern regions.

The ICU had ruled much of Somalia with relative peace and prosperity until the Ethiopian involvement.

Since then, ICU fighters have waged a deadly insurgency against the Ethiopian and the transitional government forces.

But Ethiopian troops’ retaliations have caused many casualties among Somali civilians.

Since the Ethiopian invasion, about one million Somalis have fled their homes. An estimated 6,500 civilians have been killed.

Aid workers estimate 2.6 million Somalis need assistance. That number is expected to reach 3.5 million by the end of the year if the humanitarian situation does not improve, according to the UN.

In May 2008, Amnesty International accused the Ethiopian troops in Somalia of increasingly resorting to throat-slitting executions, highlighting an "increasing incidence" of gruesome methods by Ethiopian forces that include rape and torture.

Since the ousting of the ICU, Somalia had plunged into unprecedented chaos, where warlords and pirates have returned to the scene.

Many in Somalia see the departure of Ethiopian troops as a precondition to peace negotiations.

[Al-khiyal]

Somalian rape victim, 13, stoned to death

November 3, 2008 -- An Islamist rebel administration in Somalia has had a 13-year-old girl stoned to death for adultery after the child's father reported that she was raped by three men.

Amnesty International said al-Shabab militia, which controls the southern city of Kismayo, arranged for 50 men to stone Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow in front of about 1,000 spectators. A lorry load of stones was brought to the stadium for the killing.

Amnesty said Duhulow struggled with her captors and had to be forcibly carried into the stadium.

"At one point during the stoning, Amnesty International has been told by numerous eyewitnesses that nurses were instructed to check whether Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow was still alive when buried in the ground. They removed her from the ground, declared that she was, and she was replaced in the hole where she had been buried for the stoning to continue," the human rights group said. It continued: "Inside the stadium, militia members opened fire when some of the witnesses to the killing attempted to save her life, and shot dead a boy who was a bystander."

Amnesty said Duhulow was originally reported by witnesses as being 23 years old, based on her appearance, but established from her father that she was a child. He told Amnesty that when they tried to report her rape to the militia, the child was accused of adultery and detained. None of the men accused was arrested.

"This was not justice, nor was it an execution," said Amnesty's Somalia campaigner, David Copeman. "This killing is yet another human rights abuse committed by the combatants to the conflict in Somalia, and again demonstrates the importance of international action to investigate and document such abuses, through an international commission of inquiry."

[Al-khiyal]

Stoning victim 'begged for mercy'

November 4, 2008 -- A young woman recently stoned to death in Somalia first pleaded for her life, a witness has told the BBC.

"Don't kill me, don't kill me," she said, according to the man who wanted to remain anonymous. A few minutes later, more than 50 men threw stones.

Human rights group Amnesty International says the victim was a 13-year-old girl who had been raped.

Initial reports had said she was a 23-year-old woman who had confessed to adultery before a Sharia court.

Numerous eye-witnesses say she was forced into a hole, buried up to her neck then pelted with stones until she died in front of more than 1,000 people last week.

Meanwhile, Islamists in the capital, Mogadishu have carried out a public flogging.

Mogadishu is nominally under the control of government forces and their Ethiopian allies, who face frequent attacks by Islamist and nationalist insurgents.

The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in the city says the flogging was a show of strength.

He says two men accused of helping to kill a man and torture his mother, who they accused of theft, were each given 39 lashes in the north-eastern suburb of Suqa-hola.

The man who actually killed the alleged thief was released, after agreeing to pay his family 100 camels in compensation.

Before the flogging, hundreds of Islamist fighters performed a military parade, our reporter says.

Cameras were banned from the stoning in Kismayo, but print and radio journalists who were allowed to attend estimated that the woman, Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow, was 23 years old.

However, Amnesty said it had learned she was 13, and that her father had said she was raped by three men.

When the family tried to report the rape, the girl was accused of adultery and detained, Amnesty said.

Convicting a girl of 13 for adultery would be illegal under Islamic law.

A human rights activist in the town told the BBC on condition of anonymity that he had received death threats from the Islamic militia, who accuse him of spreading false information about the incident.

He denies having anything to with Amnesty's report.

Court authorities have said the woman came to them admitting her guilt.

She was asked several times to review her confession but she stressed that she wanted Sharia law and the deserved punishment to apply, they said.

But a witness who spoke to the BBC's Today programme said she had been crying and had to be forced into a hole before the stoning, reported to have taken place in a football stadium.

"More than 1,000 people arrived there," he said.

"After two hours, the Islamic administration in Kismayo brought the lady to the place and when she came out she said: 'What do you want from me?'"

"They said: 'We will do what Allah has instructed us'. She said: 'I'm not going, I'm not going. Don't kill me, don't kill me.'

"A few minutes later more than 50 men tried to stone her."

The witness said people crowding round to see the execution said it was "awful".

"People were saying this was not good for Sharia law, this was not good for human rights, this was not good for anything."

But no-one tried to stop the Islamist officials, who were armed, the witness said. He said one boy was shot in the confusion.

According to Amnesty International, nurses were sent to check during the stoning whether the victim was still alive. They removed her from the ground and declared that she was, before she was replaced so the stoning could continue.

The port of Kismayo was seized in August by a coalition of forces loyal to rebel leader Hassan Turki, and al-Shabab, the country's main radical Islamist insurgent organisation.

Mr Turki is on the US list of "financers of terrorism".

It was the first reported execution by stoning in the southern port city since Islamist insurgents captured it.

The BBC had a reporter in the area, but he was shot dead in Kismayo in June.