Militiamen loyal to the fundamentalist Islamic group that appears determined to rule Somalia are advancing on one of the last-remaining commercial ports outside of their control, a European Union official said on Wednesday.
Several hundred militiamen loyal to the Islamic group have been seen travelling in ”technicals” — trucks mounted with machine guns — to Kismayo, about 500km south of the capital Mogadishu, the official and witnesses said.
Kismayo is Somalia’s third city and an important business centre. It is currently controlled by fighters loyal to the Juba Valley Alliance, which is allied with neither Somalia’s weak government nor the Islamic group.
Bile Abdile Ali, a spokesperson for the Juba Valley Alliance, said they were aware fighters loyal to Islamic militias were travelling to the port but they did not expect fighting to erupt.
”There is no fear of fighting in Kismayo,” he told the Associated Press by telephone. However, independent journalists working in the region said alliance fighters had been put on alert.
The EU official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of his comments, told the Associated Press 130 technicals and an unknown number of militiamen where heading for the seaport.
The official said an attack could take place in the coming days.
Somalia has not had an effective central government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on one another, pulling the country into anarchy.
The current government was established two years ago with the support of the United Nations, but it has failed to assert any power outside its base in Baidoa, 250km from the capital, Mogadishu.
The Islamic group seized the capital and much of southern Somalia starting in June, and has imposed strict religious rule in its territory. It is credited with bringing a semblance of order to the country after years of anarchy, but some of its leaders have been linked to al-Qaeda and there are fears of an emerging, Taliban-style regime.
The government has appealed for outside help, and neighbouring nations have responded with a plan to send in Sudanese and Ugandan peacekeepers. The Islamic group vehemently opposes foreign interference.
A senior African Union official said on Wednesday the 53-member body has earmarked $19-million for the mission, under which the first troops were to be deployed by the beginning of October.
A. officials from the body’s Peace and Security Council are meeting on Wednesday at their headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to endorse the deployment, the official added.
But the peacekeeping mission, drawn up by the seven-nation East African regional body, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, is unlikely to become reality anytime soon.
The UN must lift an arms embargo on Somalia that has been in place for more than 10 years before peacekeepers can enter. The mission is also expected to cost $34-million a month. — Sapa-AP