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The Somali jihad has never gone away, but with the second town seized in 24 hours, could things be heating up again? "Somali Islamist fighters seize 2nd town," by Mohammed Olad Hassan for the Associated Press:
MOGADISHU, Somalia - Islamist insurgents killed five government soldiers while briefly taking a strategic town in central Somalia, police and residents said, the second such seizure within 24 hours.
The attack late Thursday took place in Belet Weyne, near a critical road junction that links Somalia to the border with Ethiopia. Hundreds of troops are stationed at the junction, which is also Ethiopia's main supply route.
"They launched a surprise attack on the town from different directions, facing pockets of resistance from government forces and immediately took the control of the police station, the prison and a hotel government regional officials were using," said a police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
The town's police chief, Col. Abdi Aden, confirmed that five government soldiers had been killed.
Local resident Duniyo Ali said the fighters had retained control of the town for about three hours before voluntarily withdrawing. The area was now calm, she said.
Also Thursday, residents said Islamists had seized Hudur, a strategic southwestern Somali town that lies along the road leading from Ethiopia into Somalia, without firing a shot.
Islamist fighters have vowed to wage an Iraq-style war on the shaky Western-backed transitional government after Somali troops supported by their Ethiopian allies chased the Islamists from power in December 2006.
Posted by Marisol at March 8, 2008 12:16 AM
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It appears to be time to wake General Bob Geldof and his generation of Ethiopian crusaders.
Posted by: awake![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/nav-commenters.gif)
at March 8, 2008 12:42 AM
Awake, I fail to understand your logic. In what way is saving the lives of Christian Ethiopian children being forced into starvation by a Communist regime in 1985 relevant to Muslim war in Somalia today? It may be that on your atlas the two countries seem close, but there is a desert, hundreds of miles, and a religious divide between them. If you mean to say that people with black skins should be allowed to starve to death, then say it and be done. It might not make you popular - racists are not popular these days - but at least it might not make you sound like an ignorant fool. Even racists can know what they are talking about, but you sound like you do not.
As for these "towns", let us be clear about one thing: these are really overgrown villages. The only places in Somalia that really matter are Baidoa and the great port towns - Chisimaio, Mogadiscio, Obbia and such. Of these, Baidoa has never been out of government hands, Chisimaio and the lesser ports are not reported to be suffering any problems, and in spite of a year's efforts, Mogadiscio, the only large town in the entire country, remains government-held. The terrorists have managed to keep the town violent and disorderly, but not, so far as I can see, to seriously endanger the recognized government.
Posted by: Paolo at March 8, 2008 4:09 AM
The terrorists have managed to keep the town violent and disorderly, but not, so far as I can see, to seriously endanger the recognized government.
Paolo,
And you think that's okay? What about the people that are being terrorized within that city? As long as the central government survives then to heck with the rest? How long can the government survive if it can't quell the violence? And why are the people of those "overgrown villages" any less deserving of protection from terrorists? They don't matter? Says who?
at March 8, 2008 9:19 AM
"If you mean to say that people with black skins should be allowed to starve to death, then say it and be done. It might not make you popular - racists are not popular these days - but at least it might not make you sound like an ignorant fool. Even racists can know what they are talking about, but you sound like you do not."
Posted by: Paolo at March 8, 2008 4:09 AM
Paolo,
You have missed the point entirely. The Ethiopian Christians were the reason the Islamist were driven back in their last offensive.
From my calculations, a generation of Ethiopians were saved from starvation partly by Mr. Geldof's efforts in and around the Live Aid era of the 1980's. It is my assertion that this very same group of people are part of the Ethiopian military today.
My statement was as simple as that. Everything else you inferred from my small comment was absurd.
at March 8, 2008 10:48 AM
Awake: if that is what you meant, then I acknowledge I was wrong and apologize. However, a friendly suggestion: try and be clearer. If I misread your words, others also might.
PMK: of course it's not all right. But it is reassuring that even as fragile a place as Somalia cannot be permanently held by jihadis as long as someone wants to keep them out. What I would say is that this is the only thing jihadis really know how to do: make trouble and kill people. They have failed again and again to hold on even the most undesirable pieces of real estate. They cannot govern, even in a tyrannical fashion; they cannot manage a modern army; they can only kill, blackmail, and threaten. And while that is deplorable, odious, and firmly to be resisted (are you listening, Condi Rice?), it means that they are not an immediate threat on a political level.
What I would say is much more threatening is the attempt to Islamize our society by stealth and influence. Not only is it a direct threat to freedom of speech, thought and belief, but it tends to generate the very conditions in which violent minorities terrorize and murder at will in the name of a religion whose holy book describes terror as a religious obligation. We know that most of the victims of jihadi terrorism are Muslims; why? Because Muslim societies generate them. Do we want to see our countries turned into an enormous Gaza? Or, in the best possible hypothesis, an enormous Egypt? If we want our civilization to be bankrupted, all we have to do is go the BBC/Guardian way.
Posted by: Paolo at March 8, 2008 11:54 AM
"The Somali jihad has never gone away"
As much as we hope against hope . . . "The jihad never goes away . . . "
. . . not until the Islamic hyenas are beaten back with iron rods to slink in packs around the outskirts of civilization waiting for their next chance to rush in and terrorize the dull-eyed grazers. . .
. . . and then hunted down until they are beaten way back, and confined, in the wasteland from which they were allowed to rush out in the first place.
Oh but are there, scattered amongst the grazers, men, humans resolute enough to take up iron rods and "by opposing [the hyenas], end them."
Posted by: unicorns62000 at March 8, 2008 5:23 PM
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