Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Mogadishu (Agenzia Fides) – The fighting in the Somalian capital of Mogadishu continues to worsen by the minute, as government troops and Al-Shabab rebels continue their skirmishes. According to the most recent press releases, at least 48 people have died in the blooshed.
The violence is also involving the African Union's peace-keeping force in Somalia (AMISOM). On February 22, 11 Burundi soldiers of the AMISOM died in a double suicide bombing. The bombing, which also wounded another 15 Burundi troops and 5 Somalian troops, was carried out by 2 people well-known to the soldiers of the African contingent as they had been working on their base for 9 months. The two individuals were recognized by the guards and granted permission to enter the barracks with a off-road vehicle where they awaited the return of a group of soldiers from Mass (it was Sunday). All of a sudden, one of them approached their jeep, activating an explosive device hidden inside the car, while the accomplice made it explode in the base's cafeteria. The Al-Shabab rebels immediately attacked the barracks using mortar bombs.
The use of suicide bombing is even more alarming considering the fact the the FBI has found that a Somali man that killed himself in an attack this past October in northern Somalia had been trained in the United States (in Minnesota), where he had immigrated one year earlier.
The fighting taking place these days is also a sign of a turning point in the rift between the Islamic Courts and the armed militia, the Al-Shabab. When the Courts took over power in 2006, they co-opted several armed groups that had come together under the common name of “Al-Shabab,” in order to instill order and fight together against the transitional government (which is recognized by the international community, but with little influence in Somalia). When, in early 2007, they came into power thanks to the support of the Ethiopian troops, the Courts continued the war with the help of the Al-Shabab. The war forced Ethiopia to pull out its troops and the transitional government to reach an accord with the Islamic Courts.
On January 31, 2009, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, member of the “moderate” wing of the Islamic Courts, was elected President of Somalia, to try and bring together the fragmented political scene in Somalia. The fundamentalist wing of the Courts and the Al-Shabab, however, disagreed with this decision. Ahmed is, in fact, supported by the international community and the Western world, which after the failed experiment with the Ethiopian troops (supported by the US), decided to seek compromise with the so-called “moderate” wing of the Courts.
The Al-Shabab are supported by the foreign extremist groups (the “number 2” of Al Qaida has issued a declaration in their favor), however in the complex workings of the Somali situation, there are also powers – large and small – that support this or that faction group, according to their own interests...all this, keeping in mind the criminal dimension of every modern war: from trafficking of arms and drugs, to toxic waste; from the racket of food aid for the suffering local people to the piracy with its bases in northeastern Somalia. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 25/2/2009)
