Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi vowed on Tuesday to bring ousted Islamists to justice after the latest spate of post-war attacks targeted a minister’s house and the port in Mogadishu.
Gunmen also attacked a police station in the Somali capital, as insecurity rose in the chaotic Horn of Africa nation, which has endured almost daily violence since Ethiopian and government forces routed Islamists in a war that began in late December.
The attacks, which have put pressure on the interim government as it tries to restore stability in what is already one of the world’s most dangerous cities, have been blamed on Islamist remnants, some of whom have vowed holy war.
”[The Islamists] are not innocent and one day they will be brought to justice,” Gedi told a news conference in Kenya.
”We are not sparing any effort to pursue the remnants of the Islamic courts … [They] and their terrorist alliance are behind the sporadic attacks in Mogadishu.”
In the latest violence — in which civilians have been the main victims — a witness who lives near Commerce Minister Abdullahi Ahmed Afrah said his house in northern Mogadishu was attacked late on Monday.
”A hand grenade was last night thrown at the minister’s house,” the resident, who declined to be named, said.
”He was in the house at the time of the attack, but he survived, he was not hurt.”
In another part of town, four mortar bombs landed near the port, but no one was injured, another witness said.
”One of the mortars landed near my house on a deserted building,” said a resident who lives near the port and gave his name as Liban. ”I then heard three loud explosions after that, one of which fell near the port the other two fell in residential areas, but luckily no one was wounded.”
Meanwhile, residents in the southern Madina neighbourhood said assailants had opened fire at a police station but fled after heavy fighting. There was no immediate word on casualties.
No talks with Islamist moderate
Western nations have pushed the government to engage in dialogue with all Somali parties, including moderate Islamists and powerful clans, to avoid a slide back into the anarchy Somalia has known since the 1991 ouster of a dictator.
One of the figures they see as crucial for reconciliation is Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, who is considered a moderate of the movement that had controlled Mogadishu and much of the south since June.
But Gedi said there had been no talks with Ahmed, who arrived in Yemen last week after being released from Kenyan custody after he surrendered at the border in January.
The government hopes a proposed African Union peacekeeping force can be deployed as soon as possible to stabilise the nation and allow Ethiopian troops to leave.
The United Nations Security Council on Monday considered a British resolution to authorise the force, which Gedi said would help the government in its disarmament drive and train its forces.
Diplomats have urged rich nations to back and fund the mission, but only African countries have so far pledged about 4 000 troops of the 8 000 called for.
Uganda was the first nation to offer soldiers. Nigeria, Burundi, Malawi and Ghana have also offered to send troops.
Meanwhile, four men who were arrested in Kenya last month after crossing the border from Somalia flew back to Britain on Tuesday and were immediately detained by British police under anti-terrorism laws. – Reuters