SOMALIA: Islamists decalre Jihad (Holy War) on neighbouring Ethiopia following the fall of key town to Ethiopian-backed Somali government forces

Record ID: 437961

  • Title: SOMALIA: Islamists decalre Jihad (Holy War) on neighbouring Ethiopia following the fall of key town to Ethiopian-backed Somali government forces
  • Date: 10th October 2006
  • Summary: (BN12) JOWHAR, SOMALIA (FILE - JUNE 14, 2006) (REUTERS) VIEW OF THE FIGHTING AREA INSIDE JOWHAR TOWN; AUDIO OF GUNFIRE PEOPLE FLEEING FROM GUNFIRE INSIDE THE TOWN / VARIOUS OF TECHNICAL BATTLE WAGONS MOUNTED MACHINE GUNS DRIVING THROUGH STREETS; AUDIO OF GUNFIRE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE OF JOWHAR WELCOMING THE ISLAMIC COURTS CAPTURE OF THEIR TOWN ISLAMIC MILITIAS INCLUDING THE CHAIRMAN OF ISLAMIC COURTS UNION SHEIKH SHARIF SHEIKH AHMED (IN THE MIDDLE: WEARING RED SCARF ON HIS HEAD) WALKING STREETS OF JOWHAR TOWN SAYING ALLAHU AKBAR PEOPLE OF JOWHAR GATHERED IN JOWHAR STADIUM
  • Embargoed: 25th October 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Somalia
  • Country: Somalia
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAVFXGWAU4V0HF22Y3HHZWXUCQ
  • Story Text: Somalia's powerful Islamists on Monday (October 9) declared holy war against Horn of Africa rival Ethiopia, which they accused of invading Somalia to help the government seize a town pro-Islamist fighters had controlled.
    Both the Government and Islamic Courts officials confirmed the takeover of Buur Hakaba, the first military counter-strike by President Abdullahi Yusuf's interim government since the Islamists took Mogadishu in June and went on to seize much of Somalia's south.
    "I want to tell the Ethiopian troops deployed in the area, Meles Zenawi, anything to you, go back your area. The country you attacked is not yours, and I want to tell the Somali people that they have to protect their country, and their religion. Somalia's ancient enemy has returned, and therefore I give my order to Islamic Courts soldiers: We are calling you for Jihad in Allah's way," Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed told a news conference, while wearing combat fatigues and clutching an AK-47 assault rifle.
    Ahmed, usually viewed as a more moderate voice among the Islamists, appeared angry as he addressed reporters.
    The Islamists and residents of Buur Hakaba, seen as a potential flashpoint because it had put the Islamists within 30 km (20 miles) of the interim government's base in Baidoa, said Ethiopian troops accompanied government fighters who took over the town early on Monday.
    A government militia commander in Buur Hakaba denied that, and Addis Ababa has consistently said it has not sent any soldiers except for military advisers.
    The Islamists, unaccustomed to losing since their spectacular rise, said the government move was the first salvo in a longer and long-expected conflict.
    The Islamists, keenly aware of Somali resistance to foreign especially Ethiopian interference often accuse the government of being a puppet of Ethiopia, the Horn's top military power.
    Western governments fear that any incursion by Ethiopia, viewed by many Somalis as a Christian imperialist power, could give foreign jihadis a reason to flood Somalia as the newest battleground of Islam against the West.
    The Islamists have all but dashed the aspirations of the Western-backed government to restore central rule to Somalia for the first time since the 1991 ouster of a dictator.
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