Somalia’s Islamist movement threatened on Tuesday to wage war on more than 30 000 Ethiopian troops it said were in the Horn of Africa nation unless they leave within seven days.
”Starting today, if the Ethiopians don’t leave our land within seven days, we will attack them and force them to leave our country,” Islamist defence chief Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siad Inda’ade told reporters in Mogadishu.
The Islamists took Mogadishu and a swathe of southern Somalia in June, threatening the fragile authority of the interim government of President Abdullahi Yusuf, which is backed by Ethiopia, the West and the United Nations.
Diplomats and witnesses say thousands of Ethiopian troops have crossed the border to protect Yusuf’s government in and around the only town it controls, Baidoa. But Ethiopia only acknowledges sending several hundred armed military advisers.
”The Islamic Courts are claiming the existence of Ethiopian troops inside of Somalia to attract international attention. Their claim is perceived, it’s not based on fact,” Ethiopian Information Ministry spokesperson Zemehun Tekele told Reuters.
At a news conference, Inda’ade said there were between 30 000 and 35 000 Ethiopian troops in Somalia — a much higher figure than most witnesses or independent analysts estimate.
Of the those, between 6 000 and 8 000 were in Baidoa, he said. Another 1 500 more were at the border of Ethiopia and Kenya with 25 trucks seeking to reach Somalia via another route.
”We are asking the Kenyan government not to allow Ethiopian troops to go through their country,” he said. ”Kenya is at peace now. We are not at war with Kenya. They should resist anything that will harm our good neighbourly relations.”
Rhetoric between Ethiopia and the Islamists has heightened dramatically of late. Addis Ababa says they are spoiling for war, while the Islamists have repeatedly declared jihad against soldiers from Addis Ababa it says are invading Somali territory.
On the weekend, there were two days of clashes between pro-government troops and Islamist fighters around Diinsoor, south of Baidoa, in which several people were killed.
Forces from both sides were said by witnesses to be massing on Tuesday near the town of Tiyeglow, 140km north-west of Baidoa, in preparation for a possible clash.
The Islamists now flank the government on three sides.
Inda’ade urged foreign powers to intervene to prevent war.
”We are telling the international community to take them [the Ethiopians] out of Somalia,” he said.
With Eritrea accused of backing the Islamists by sending arms and military advisers to Mogadishu — a claim Asmara strongly denies — many fear the Somali crisis could quickly flare up into a catastrophic regional war.
Officials for Yusuf’s government and Kenyan government spokespersons could not be immediately reached for comment. — Reuters