Hiiraan Online
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
MOGADISHU (HOL) ---Armed militias loyal to the moderate Islamist group in central Somalia have prevented Djiboutian-AU forces from travelling to Adado, a town planning to host the upcoming central Somalia’s regional election, officials say.
The road blockade by Ahlu Sunna militia forced the troops to spend Tuesday night in a desolate tract area near Mataban, an arid town in central Somalia, in spite of risks of militants’ attacks targeting to travelling troops.
Despite negotiations aimed at persuading militias to open the road, the militias insisted on troops’ return to their bases. The African Union commission tasked the Djiboutian forces with the security of the town before the election.
The development comes after the moderate Islamists boycotted the controversial upcoming regional election for the central Somalia region.
Adado, a small in central Somalia was selected for the host of the election which has attracted the attention of Somalia’s political stakeholders.
Multiple attempts by Somalia’s president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to hammer out contentious issues within elders representing clans who are supposed to form the regional administration failed, prompting the president to travel to the region for the third time on Tuesday.
His trip comes one day after Somalia’s ambassador to Ethiopia Ahmed Abdisalam, an influential politician travelled to the region amid tight security to run for the upcoming election.