|
A major offensive aimed at clearing Somalia s Al Qaeda-alliedIslamist army from the world s largest camp for displaced peoplebegan Tuesday, amid fears that civilians could end up in the firingline. Columns of Somali National Army troops with African Unionpeacekeepers launched the attack soon after sunrise along a majorroad heading northwest from Mogadishu, the Somali capital. Their aim, the AU s most senior official in Somalia said, was to build security so that the 400,000 people squatting onIslamist-controlled territory outside the city would find it easierto be reached by aid agencies. The area, known as the Afgoyecorridor, remains under the rule of Al Shabab, a radicalizedfighting force bent on routing Somalia s Western-backed governmentand ruling the country according to a strict interpretation ofIslamic law. Al Shabab has banned most international aid groups from working inits territory, despite the ongoing effects of last year s famineand threats of further severe hunger after failed crops this year. The Afgoye corridor holds one of the biggest concentrations ofinternally displaced people in the world, said Wafula Wamunyinyi,who heads the AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM. We are helping them by building security so that they can sharein the economic revival of the capital. They will now be able toaccess humanitarian services and eventually return to theiroriginal homes in Mogadishu. Mogadishu has seen its longest period of peace in many yearsrecently, since the AU contingent made up mostly of Ugandan andBurundian soldiers forced Al Shabab from the capital last year.Where once there were daily mortar and small-arms battles alongfrontlines running down the city s main streets, now it is rare tohear sustained gunfire. Businesses are starting, markets are flourishing, and schools andclinics are reopening. But there are still regular suicide attacks by bombers sent by AlShabab, including one last month at the newly reopened SomaliNational Theater, which killed 10 people. Many of those attackers are believed to come from the area aroundAfgoye, and AU commanders hope that Tuesday s offensive, which islikely to last several days, will force them further fromMogadishu s outskirts. But there were concerns that fighting insuch a crowded area could lead to ordinary people being caught upin the conflict, or Islamist fighters melting into the population. One aid worker in Nairobi, capital of neighboring Kenya, warned,however, that taking the battle to Al Shabab where there were somany civilians living in flimsy shelters was a substantial risk. It could be truly dreadful if Shabab pull back into the[internally displaced people s] camps and start launching theirfightback from there, she said, refusing to give her name ororganization because she was not authorized to talk to the media. It s true that we need to reach those people, it s a desperatesituation there. But it will be a disaster if people we need totreat for malnutrition suddenly really need treating for gunshots,mortar wounds, or other battlefield injuries. Lt. Gen. Andrew Gutti, AMISOM s force commander, said that theattack had been designed to minimize the harm to thepopulation. During this joint operation AMISOM is taking every precaution toprevent harm or injury to civilians, he said. We will onlyfight when attacked by the Al Shabab terrorists. We ask thepopulation of the Afgoye corridor to continue to stay in theirplaces of residence, avoid unnecessary travel on main roads, andnot to stray far from their homes. Abdisamad Moalim Mohamoud, Somalia s interior minister, said lateTuesday that government forces had made a great achievement during the first day of the offensive, taking the towns ofGarasbaley and Daynile from Al Shabab. But Islamist commander Sheikh Fuad Mohamed Khalaf told Mogadishu sRadio Al Andalus that the crusade forces from Burundi and Ugandaand their Somali puppets launched an offensive, they were pushedback, they were given a lesson enough. They left bodies and destroyed military trucks, we will show themto the media later today, he added. Eyewitnesses, however, said that they had seen at least five deadAl Shabab fighters, and one casualty from the government forces. I am an expert from wire-cabletray.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Steel Wire Cable Tray , Wire Cable Tray, Basket Cable Tray,and more.
Related Articles -
Steel Wire Cable Tray, Wire Cable Tray,
|
