bobdina
09-30-2009, 01:30 PM
T
Wednesday, September 30, 2009; 10:27 AM
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somalia's al Shabaab rebels declared war on rival Hizbul Islam militants on Wednesday, setting up a showdown between the two main insurgent groups in an important southern port that could spread across the nation.
Security analysts warn that the failed Horn of Africa state is a safe haven for militants, including foreign jihadists, and Washington says al Shabaab is al Qaeda's proxy in the country.
Hizbul said if it were attacked in the port of Kismayu its fighters would retaliate everywhere in Somalia, including the capital Mogadishu, where the two groups have battled together against the government and African Union peacekeepers.
Relations between al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam degenerated last week after al Shabaab named its own council to run Kismayu, which is a lucrative source of taxes and other income. Until then, the two groups had run the port in an uneasy coalition.
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Western donors have long hoped hardliners in al Shabaab could be isolated by a deal between more moderate Hizbul leaders and the country's fragile U.N.-backed administration.
While President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed has so far failed to bring top Hizbul figures on board, a feud between the two main fighting groups could give his government some breathing space.
Sheikh Hassan Yaqub, the al Shabaab spokesman in Kismayu, said his group was declaring jihad against Hizbul Islam there.
"They brought back all the evil acts we banned: killing, looting, drugs, unveiled women. Instead of fighting the infidels ... they came to destroy our Islamic authority," Yaqub said.
HIZBUL ISLAM WILL NOT YIELD
"We will fight al Shabaab everywhere in Somalia if they so much as fire a pistol in Kismayu," Sheikh Ismail Adow, spokesman for Hizbul's executive council, told reporters in Mogadishu.
"They wanted us to surrender, but we shall never yield ... we want peace, unlike al Shabaab, which declared war. We ask them to leave us. If they don't, we will force them to do so."
Hundreds of residents fled Kismayu on Wednesday, fearing more bloodshed, and schools and businesses were shuttered. Witnesses said al Shabaab fighters were digging trenches.
Al Shabaab also ordered all doctors and nurses to report to the hospital and prepare for violence, a medical source said.
Xawa Ahmed, a mother of six, said everyone was terrified.
"We are searching for a safe place with our young kids. We have gathered about 30 families and we are preparing to go to the bush," she told Reuters by telephone.
Al Shabaab's Yaqub said Kismayu residents should not hesitate: "They should follow us and join the jihad. Otherwise, let them join Hizbul Islam and we will fight them all.
The international community wants to bolster President Ahmed's government, which controls only parts of the nation's central region and a few districts of Mogadishu.
On Wednesday, the independent Elman Peace and Human Rights Organization said violence had killed nearly 19,000 civilians since the start of 2007 and uprooted another 1.5 million.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009; 10:27 AM
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somalia's al Shabaab rebels declared war on rival Hizbul Islam militants on Wednesday, setting up a showdown between the two main insurgent groups in an important southern port that could spread across the nation.
Security analysts warn that the failed Horn of Africa state is a safe haven for militants, including foreign jihadists, and Washington says al Shabaab is al Qaeda's proxy in the country.
Hizbul said if it were attacked in the port of Kismayu its fighters would retaliate everywhere in Somalia, including the capital Mogadishu, where the two groups have battled together against the government and African Union peacekeepers.
Relations between al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam degenerated last week after al Shabaab named its own council to run Kismayu, which is a lucrative source of taxes and other income. Until then, the two groups had run the port in an uneasy coalition.
ad_icon
Western donors have long hoped hardliners in al Shabaab could be isolated by a deal between more moderate Hizbul leaders and the country's fragile U.N.-backed administration.
While President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed has so far failed to bring top Hizbul figures on board, a feud between the two main fighting groups could give his government some breathing space.
Sheikh Hassan Yaqub, the al Shabaab spokesman in Kismayu, said his group was declaring jihad against Hizbul Islam there.
"They brought back all the evil acts we banned: killing, looting, drugs, unveiled women. Instead of fighting the infidels ... they came to destroy our Islamic authority," Yaqub said.
HIZBUL ISLAM WILL NOT YIELD
"We will fight al Shabaab everywhere in Somalia if they so much as fire a pistol in Kismayu," Sheikh Ismail Adow, spokesman for Hizbul's executive council, told reporters in Mogadishu.
"They wanted us to surrender, but we shall never yield ... we want peace, unlike al Shabaab, which declared war. We ask them to leave us. If they don't, we will force them to do so."
Hundreds of residents fled Kismayu on Wednesday, fearing more bloodshed, and schools and businesses were shuttered. Witnesses said al Shabaab fighters were digging trenches.
Al Shabaab also ordered all doctors and nurses to report to the hospital and prepare for violence, a medical source said.
Xawa Ahmed, a mother of six, said everyone was terrified.
"We are searching for a safe place with our young kids. We have gathered about 30 families and we are preparing to go to the bush," she told Reuters by telephone.
Al Shabaab's Yaqub said Kismayu residents should not hesitate: "They should follow us and join the jihad. Otherwise, let them join Hizbul Islam and we will fight them all.
The international community wants to bolster President Ahmed's government, which controls only parts of the nation's central region and a few districts of Mogadishu.
On Wednesday, the independent Elman Peace and Human Rights Organization said violence had killed nearly 19,000 civilians since the start of 2007 and uprooted another 1.5 million.