l****z 发帖数: 29846 | 1 Somali residents welcome Ethiopian troops after rebel rout
Sun, Mar 4 2012
By Kumerra Gemechu
BAIDOA, Somalia (Reuters) - After three years of killings and violence under
the rule of al Shabaab rebels, residents of the Somali city of Baidoa said
they were happy to see the arrival of Ethiopian soldiers, whose presence
they once resented.
Under al Shabaab's control, Baidoa's leaders say the city's people became
poorer, conditions worsened and many were forced to flee. The return of
Ethiopian troops, once seen as Christian invaders in a Muslim country, was a
welcome relief.
Ethiopian and Somali troops seized the city from al Shabaab insurgents last
month, in a major blow to the militants battling Somalia's weak interim
government.
Somalia has been in turmoil since warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad
Barre in 1991. Fighting has killed more than 21,000 people since al Shabaab
launched its insurgency in 2007.
"Al Shabaab colonized us for three years and 12 days. Many of us were killed
, many of us were displaced and many have migrated. So we are the survivors,
" Mohammed Ma'alim Barhi, a clan leader, told reporters in the city 250 km
northwest of Mogadishu.
"They (Ethiopian troops) have entered here three times before. Now we like
them, we support them and we are with them."
Al Shabaab, which announced in February that it was merging with al Qaeda,
imposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic sharia law. In areas under its
control, music, movies and soccer were banned and people were beheaded or
had limbs amputated as punishments.
"Before, there was a strong propaganda against the Ethiopians but these
three years there are many things the people saw. There was over-taxation,
they are killing people," Abdifatah Mohamed Gesey, governor for Bay region,
said of the insurgents.
"After we arrived here we held discussions with the elders, business people
and the women's associations. They have asked us to liberate nearby towns
just as we liberated Baidoa."
Gesey, who fled after al Shabaab took over the region, said people were now
returning to the city to reopen businesses.
'ALMOST GAME OVER'
Ethiopian and Somali troops said they were welcomed by residents who
volunteered to show them where al Shabaab fighters were hiding, and found
abandoned ordnance everywhere, from government offices to mosques, police
stations to main roads.
"The enemy forces were disoriented and disintegrated. They were incapable,"
said General Yohannes Gebre-Giorgis, Commander of the Ethiopian Forces in
Somalia.
"The people have now deserted them. So there is no way they can survive here
. It is almost game over for al Shabaab."
Baidoa residents said their most immediate priority was meeting basic needs
like food. "We need international help. Our people are very angry. Our
people are hungry and we don't have medicine," Barhi said.
Baidoa Palace, a bullet-riddled building once the main seat of Somalia's
interim government until 2009, is now a command center for Ethiopian troops.
Its windows have been shattered by gunfire and graffiti scrawled on its
walls. The rest of the town is dotted with abandoned houses and destroyed
shops.
Ethiopia's military presence in Somalia between late 2006 and early 2009,
when it routed another Islamist administration from power, provoked massive
resentment among Somalis and galvanized support for the militant Islamists.
Ethiopia sent troops across the border again in November to open up a third
front against the militants, who are also fighting 9,000 Ugandan and
Burundian troops under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and
Kenyan forces.
Last week, the U.N. Security Council voted to expand AMISOM, which supports
the shaky Western-backed government, to nearly 18,000 soldiers, and will
include Kenyan troops.
African political and military leaders will meet in Ethiopia next week to
iron out the details of how the expanded force will operate, Kenyan army
colonel Cyrus Oguna told reporters in Nairobi.
(Additional reporting and writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Karolina
Tagaris) |
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