Ethiopian soldiers paraded on Tuesday a wounded senior cleric captured in south Somalia during the pursuit of remnants of an Islamist movement ousted from Mogadishu in a war over the New Year.
Bearded cleric Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Madobe — former Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) chairperson for the southern town of Kismayu — told reporters he suffered more than a dozen bullet wounds after United States planes fired on his forest hideout.
Looking shaken and showing a bullet wound on his face, Madobe said the aerial attack killed eight Islamist colleagues. He was caught and given medical treatment by Ethiopian troops.
”All the others were killed. I sustained 13 injuries to my body,” he said, appealing to go to hospital.
Washington has acknowledged conducting two air strikes aimed at al-Qaeda suspects thought to be hiding among the Islamists.
Guarded by soldiers at a dilapidated former government building, Madobe was allowed to shake hands with elders, friends and relatives, and speak briefly to media.
Madobe said he was treated well by his Ethiopian captors, and called on Somalis to work with the government.
But those comments drew suspicion from a former colleague, who suggested he was being used for propaganda purposes.
”They want to use him to soften us and woo support,” the former Islamist militiaman said by telephone from Kismayu.
”It will never work, even if he joins their ranks.”
Mortar attack
Somali government forces and their Ethiopian allies ousted the Islamists from their southern strongholds in a two-week offensive that began in late December. They have been pursuing the Islamists in remote parts of south Somalia since.
The government blames Islamist remnants for a wave of guerrilla-style attacks in Mogadishu on both government and Ethiopian positions. In the latest, a mortar flew into an open space near the Villa Somalia presidential palace.
A witness, who was inside the palace at the time but declined to be named, said Tuesday’s attack appeared aimed at the white-washed, hilltop compound that houses President Abdullahi Yusuf. Previous mortars have hit Villa Somalia.
”The mortar hit an open space outside,” he said.
”I think they had aimed to hit the palace.”
Many Mogadishu residents fear the violence in the coastal capital may also be due to rivalry between warlords who have returned since the ouster of the Islamists.
The SICC ruled most of south Somalia for about six months from June, 2006. Somalia has been without central rule since the 1991 ouster of military dictator. — Reuters