Somalia’s president told residents of the only town his government controls on Tuesday that they have a week to give up their weapons, after which ”every single gun in Baidoa” will be seized by force. It was unclear how President Abdullahi Yusuf, whose government has no military, will make good on the threat to disarm Baidoa.
Somalia’s prime minister survived a no-confidence vote on Sunday, just days after a group of lawmakers resigned in disgust and said his weak administration has failed to bring peace to this chaotic African country. "I respect those who voted against me and I respect those who voted for me," Gedi said after the vote.
Islamic militiamen arrested 20 men for watching an allegedly pornographic video, said an Islamic court official and a witness on Wednesday. Tuesday’s arrests follow several cases of the Islamic militiamen forcefully applying their strict interpretation of Islamic law.
Somalia’s nearly powerless interim government said on Friday it wants to postpone this weekend’s peace talks with an Islamic militia that has seized control of nearly all of southern Somalia, saying the group has become increasingly radical. The talks were expected to be a move toward international acceptance for the militia.
Hundreds of fighters who were battling Somalia’s Islamic militia in the capital, Mogadishu, surrendered early on Tuesday after a surge of violence that has killed more than 70 people and wounded 150 since Sunday, officials said. The fighters, loyal to secular warlord Abdi Awale Qaybdiid, turned over their arms, top Islamic commanders said.
Islamic fundamentalists whose ideology is similar to the Taliban seized control of Somalia’s capital on Monday, unifying the city for the first time in more than a decade and posing a direct challenge to a fledging United Nations-backed government.
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/ 16 January 2006
Rival clan militias battled for control of Kismayo, Somalia’s third-largest town, on Monday after disputes over how it should be run and the fate of 48 Asian fishermen who have been held by one faction since August. Hundreds of people fled the Indian Ocean port town to escape the violence.
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/ 5 September 2005
At least 57 people drowned and dozens more are feared dead after the crew of a boat making an illegal crossing from Somalia to Yemen forced them from the boat at gunpoint several kilometres from shore. The 18 smugglers appeared to be trying to avoid detection when they forced passengers into the Red Sea.
Militias led by two lawmakers in Somalia’s Parliament fought for control of a major south-western trading centre on Monday, killing at least 15 people. The battle began at 3am local time when fighters from a clan faction allied to neighbouring Ethiopia attacked Baidoa with mortars and other heavy weapons.
Cholera outbreaks in southern Somalia have killed 57 people in the past week, health officials said on Tuesday. ”The disease is rapidly spreading among the people in rural areas and farmers, as well as those in Mogadishu refugee camps who have no access to proper medical care,” the doctors said in a joint statement.