Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Hezb al-Islam militia and the Al Qaeda-inspired Shebab insurgents said that the government and the African Union peacekeepers backing the regime will "regret" raiding them.
"Our fighters are confident they will defeat the enemy of Allah however they are prepared and whatever they have with them. Allah will help us win the battle," said Mohamed Osman Arus, the Hezb al-Islam spokesman.
"We have information on the planned offensive by the apostate government against the positions we control here in Mogadishu and other regions as well, and we are fully prepared to counter-attack them," he told AFP.
The two militant groups seized much of Mogadishu from the government in fierce battles launched last May aimed at toppling the internationally-backed Somali government.
With the help of the AU troops, the government controls just a small area and strategic sites in Mogadishu where it continues to come under relentless attack by its foes.
"Our position is clear and we are always well prepared to defend our religion from any attack," Shebab spokesman Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage said Monday.
"The preparations that the apostates are making is not new to us. They always vow to wage final war against us and it never happens," he added.
The embattled government said recently it was preparing a vast operation against the insurgents with the help of the AU peacekeepers.
Many of the civilians who had remained in Mogadishu are fleeing their neighbourhoods for displaced camps out of town ahead of the planned offensive.
Source: AFP