Thursday, December 19, 2013
Holding a press
conference at Villa Somalia, the state house in Mogadishu on Tuesday, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud urged all parties
concerned in inter clan conflicts in some regions to stop hostilities.
The Somali leader reacted to reports of opposing clan militias battling in at least three zones in the southern and central regions of Somalia.
“It is very unfortunate that in some regions violence is taking place,” said the president, employing strong terms.
He added: “We demand cessation of hostilities and replaced by the pacification process spearheaded by the Somali government.”
President Mohamoud minced no words in accusing unidentified groups of fuelling the hostilities between clans.
“We are going to take strong measures against those invigorating the clashes,” he remarked.
In
recent weeks, militias loyal to rival clans turned guns on each other
in Middle Shabelle, Lower Shabelle and Hiran regions. They mainly
clashed over the control of farming lands, pastoral zones and other
resources.
Tens of people have died while others were
wounded or displaced. In Middle Shabelle and Hiran regions reports
indicated that villages were burnt as thousands of inhabitants fled
their normal habitats.
The president expressed sorrow
in regards the renewed tensions in parts of the territories controlled
by the government. “We (the government) are determined to enforce that
all disputes are solved by peaceful and reconciliatory means,” stated
President Mohamoud.
He underlined that elders, intellectuals and government officials collaborate in cooling tensions between rival groups.
A
couple of years ago, all three regions, namely Middle Shabelle, Lower
Shabelle and Hiran were chiefly under the control of Al-Shabaab, the
radical Islamist group.
To dispute could be raised
under the heavy hand of Al-Shabaab hardliners. People wonder why the
clansmen whose territories were liberated from the fanatical Islamists
do not resort to building statehood, law and order.
Peacekeepers from Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Djibouti and Sierra Leone, serving under the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) have been helping the Somali government in the stabilisation of the country’s security.
Nevertheless, clansmen who recall old-age rivalry tend to spoil the gains.
“Anybody promoting the inter-clan wars is opposing the rebirth of Somalia as a state,” said President Mohamoud.