Somali leader of Hisbul Islam Dahir Aweys was falsely reported wounded or killed in fighting in the capital of Mogadishu. Hisbul Islam and al-Shabab have vowed to topple the Transitional Federal Government that is backed by the US and AMISOM.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
ISLAMIST FACTIONS ON BRINK OF WAR IN SOMALI PORT
The Islamist alliance that has ruled the key southern Somali
port of Kismayo for a year was on the brink of collapse Wednesday,
with two factions vowing to fight for supremacy.
The Al-Qaeda-inspired Shebab and the more political Hezb
al-Islam group both claim control of Kismayo, whose port is a key
source of revenue, since seizing the town from the transitional
government troops in August 2008.
Hundreds of heavily armed fighters allied to Hezb al-Islam have
this week deployed near Kismayo, located some 500 kilometres (300 miles) south of the capital Mogadishu.
"There is no longer a single group controlling Kismayo but we
are planning to announce one soon," Sheikh Ahmed Madobe, the head of the armed group, told reporters Wednesday.
Regional Shebab spokesman Sheikh Hassan Yaqub Ali said their
efforts to persuade their rivals that Kismayo belonged to both of
them had fallen on deaf ears.
"We can no longer tolerate them. We are always in a position to
defend our religion from anyone who tries to undermine it," Ali
said.
After capturing Kismayo last year, the two sides agreed to share
power, each governing for six months alternatively, but the deal
foundered with Shebab's refusal to honour it.
Witnesses reported Wednesday that residents had begun fleeing
the port town as the former allies moved closer to armed
confrontation.
Local resident Mohamed Moalim Ibrahim said the fighters had
taken positions "in trenches, some of them are on top of a tall
building where they installed their heavy machine guns... Many
residents have fled to nearby villages."
Senior Shebab official Osmail Haji Adow regretted that "brothers
who were once allied to fight against the enemy of Allah are
sharpening their swords today to wage war on each other."
"We call on both sides to show restraint," he said.
One resident who spoke to AFP by phone said an eruption of
violence looked inevitable.
"This seems to be all about financial interests because the
Shebab refused to share the resources with their allies," said
Abdullahi Hassan. "We are only waiting for the start of the
fighting. There is no hope of peace."
Kismayo has been relatively calm since the hardline Islamists
seized it and many residents from war-riven Mogadishu have sought
refuge there.
On May 7, the Shebab and Hezb al-Islam launched a blistering
offensive against the internationally-backed administration of
President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in Mogadishu as well as southern and central regions.
The hardline groups have reduced the government's reach to just
a few streets in the war-wracked capital, where it owes its
survival to the African Union peacekeepers.
But the tensions in Kismayo may wreck their drive against
Sharif's government and the African forces whom they have
repeatedly attacked, accusing them of being an occupying force.
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