By David Blair, Diplomatic Correspondent
Friday, April 27, 2007
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The fighting in Somalia's ruined capital worsened still further yesterday as Ethiopian troops launched a new offensive against areas held by insurgents.
The number of refugees may now have reached 400,000 - more than one third of Mogadishu's entire population. But Somalia's internationally recognised government hailed a victory last night and claimed to be in full control of the city.
"We have won the fighting against the insurgents," said Ali Mohammed Gedi, the prime minister. "The worst of the fighting in the city is now over." |
He added: "We have captured the stronghold of the terrorists. We will capture any terrorists who have escaped."
Yet gunfire and heavy artillery could still be heard in northern Mogadishu. President Abdullahi Yusuf's regime is entirely dependent on military support from neighbouring Ethiopia.
He was installed in the capital by the Ethiopian army, which captured Mogadishu almost unopposed in December and ousted a radical Islamic regime.
But Mr Yusuf's traditional clan rivals and gunmen loyal to the Islamists soon rose against him. In the past nine days, the president and his Ethiopian allies have tried to subdue the capital.
About 350 people are known to have been killed and large areas destroyed by heavy artillery. "We face a very critical and dangerous situation where the rules of international humanitarian law are being flouted by all sides," said Sir John Holmes, the United Nations under-secretary for humanitarian affairs.
Speaking in Geneva, he estimated that as many as 400,000 people may have been forced to flee Mogadishu. Most of them are now beyond the reach of aid workers.
Ethiopian forces and the regime's militias have disrupted the flow of emergency supplies. But they have recently agreed to allow the aid operation to work unhindered.
Source: Telegraph, April 27, 2007