Masked Islamist insurgents on pick-up trucks paraded what they said were the bodies of three Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers in the streets of Mogadishu Friday, an AFP correspondent reported.
The show of defiance by the Shabab, the radical armed wing of the main Somali Islamist movement, came as a four-day lull was shattered by renewed fighting in the capital’s southern neighbourhoods.
“We will keep killing them until they get out of our country,” said one of the gun-toting insurgents, shouting from the back of pick-up, the kind that has become a symbol of Somalia’s 17-year-old lawlessness.
His face hidden behind a red turban, the Islamist fighter and his two fellow insurgents toured the southern Barua district for several minutes with their gruesome trophy.
“The people who invaded our country are dying every day in the fighting,” an AFP reporter heard the man shout.
Witnesses confirmed an artillery duel between Ethiopian Woyanne forces and insurgents in the nearby Gupta neighbourhood, in the first night marred by major clashes since Ali Mohamed Gedi resigned from the premiership on Monday.
According to witnesses, the latest spate of attacks in the restive seaside capital left four Ethiopian Woyanne troops, two civilians and an insurgent dead. The death toll could not be immediately confirmed by medical sources.
Residents said at least one Ethiopian Woyanne soldier was killed when raiding suspected Islamist insurgent hideouts in southern Mogadishu’s Al-Baraka neighbourhood.
“I have seen the body of an Ethiopian Woyanne soldier at Al-Baraka junction… Another soldier was wounded in the leg,” said a resident who requested anonymity for fear of retribution.
“A man selling petrol near the junction was hit by a stray bullet and another was shot by Ethiopian Woyanne forces as he tried to escape,” said Mohamed Ali, another resident.
Ethiopian Woyanne troops have been venturing deeper into the streets of Islamist bastions in recent days, in abid to break the back of an insurgency that has plagued efforts to stabilise the transitional government for months.
The Ethiopian Woyanne army came to the rescue of the embattled Somali government last year to oust an Islamist militia that briefly controlled large parts of the country and sought to impose Islamic law.
The Islamic Courts Union were swiftly defeated earlier this year, but its remnants and allied tribes have since waged a guerrilla war against their enemies.
However the heavy-handed crackdown on the insurgents has also angered many in Mogadishu. Three civilians were killed late last month when Ethiopian Woyanne troops opened fire on demonstrators protesting against their presence.
On Wednesday, the UN refugee agency said up to 90,000 civilians were displaced in Mogadishu in the weekend fighting, which was “the worst in months” stoking worsening humanitarian crisis in the country.
The parading of dead Ethiopian Woyanne troops through the streets of Mogadishu was somewhat reminiscent of 1993, when the bodies of US special forces taking part in a doomed operation were famously torn to pieces and paraded in the streets.
Alarmed by the escalating violence in Mogadishu, 40 aid groups warned of an “unfolding humanitarian catastrophe” in parts of Somalia and said they could no longer meet the country’s growing relief needs.
The fighting is exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation which has left 1.5 million — almost one sixth of the total population — in need of help.
Bloody clan feuds following the 1991 ousting of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre escalated into a civil war which continues to defy every peace initiative.
Aid agencies are warning of a humanitarian catastrophe in Somalia after a military offensive unleashed by Ethiopia Woyanne forced up to 100,000 people to flee Mogadishu in recent days.
Ethiopia Woyanne has sent up to 15,000 additional troops into its Horn of Africa neighbour as it struggles to pacify an Islamist-led insurgency.
Entire districts have emptied as people have been forced from their homes. Mogadishu’s mayor, Mohammed Dheere, told residents on Sunday that they should leave. Diplomats in Nairobi have warned that the Ethiopian attacks, targeted at certain sub-clans opposed to the government, could be considered ethnic cleansing.
The UN’s humanitarian co-ordinator, Christian Balslev-Olesen, said there were “reports of house-to-house searches and large-scale detentions,” which have “created a climate of fear among the population not witnessed before”.
Ethiopian Woyanne troops and Islamist insurgents were engaged in three major battles over the weekend that left about 100 civilians injured.
“You see groups of people spontaneously protesting, crying for help from the international community and wondering how long Mogadishu will keep on being destroyed,” the UN refugee agency quoted a staff member in Somalia as saying.
About 46,000 of those fleeing have gone to the town of Afgooye, 20 miles outside Mogadishu, where there are already more than 100,000 people displaced from fighting earlier this year. Aid agencies warned yesterday that they were unable to provide any assistance because of chronic insecurity. Armed checkpoints, the scourge of Somalia since its last central government was overthrown in 1991, are proliferating at an alarming rate. Militias aligned to one of the 100 or so different sub-clans set up checkpoints, demanding money from all who pass.
Humanitarian convoys carrying food or water can be charged up to $100 (£50) a time. It is estimated there are more than 200 checkpoints on the roads leading into Mogadishu.
Paul Smith-Lomas of Oxfam said aid agencies were “extremely concerned that a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding and agencies are unable to get safe access to tens of thousands of people fleeing Mogadishu.”
Harassment of UN and aid agency staff members is also on the rise. The six remaining international UN staff in southern and central Somalia were evacuated from Merka, a town 45 miles south of Mogadishu, on Sunday.
Earlier this month, the World Food Programme’s senior officer in Mogadishu was arrested in an armed raid on the UN compound carried out by the government’s own security forces.
Mr Balslev-Olesen said it was “very likely” many of those displaced in April would begin to die. “We have not even been able to provide the basic needs for these people in terms of water and sanitation,” he said. “Unless we get access, people will start dying.”
Ethiopia Woyanne invaded Somalia in late December last year, driving out the Union of Islamic Courts, which had taken control of Mogadishu and large areas of southern and central Somalia. A transitional government, which had previously been holed up in a small western town, Baidoa, was instantly installed in Mogadishu.
Ethiopia Woyanne was given tacit approval for the invasion by the United States, which wanted to target terrorist suspects it believed were in Somalia. The US views Somalia as a vital front in the global “war on terror” and has carried out its own air strikes in the country.
But things have not gone as planned. Although the Courts were defeated within days, it took less than a month for fighters fromal-Shabaab, the hardline wing of the Courts’ militia with links to al-Qa’ida, to begin an insurgency.
Somalia’s interim government has struggled to keep control of the country, relying on thousands of Ethiopian troops. Longstanding animosity among ordinary Somalis towards Ethiopia has drained the government of what little public support it had, particularly in Mogadishu, which is a stronghold of the Hawiye clan.
The government, headed by Abdullahi Yusuf, is dominated by members of his Darod clan.
A long-running feud between President Yusuf and his Prime Minister, Ali Mohamed Gedi, has also damaged the government. Mr Gedi resigned from the government earlier this week after pressure from the United States, where he and his family have been offered asylum.
“The Ethiopias Woyannes are in way over their heads,” said one Western diplomat. “They can’t cope any more and are looking desperately for an exit strategy.”
Ethiopia Woyanne had hoped that the African Union (AU) would provide their exit strategy. A force of 8,000 AU troops was sanctioned earlier this year. If fully deployed, it would have enabled Ethiopia to withdraw.
But so far just a single battalion of 1,600 Ugandan soldiers has been deployed. A battalion of Burundians is expected to join them later this month, but their deployment has been beset by operational difficulties.
Ethiopian Review’s Research Unit has learned that chairman of (KIC) Keysi, Dr Taye Woldesemayat, and his cohorts the Reverend Mirchaw Sinishaw, Wzr. Nigist Honda, Ato Bedlu Ademe and others are scheduled to arrived in Nashville on Friday to participate in a public meeting. The program has not been announced on their web site, but the Keysi representative in Nashville, Ato Tsehay Demeke, is making phone calls to selected individuals in Nashville inviting them to come to the meeting. They are keeping the meeting secret fearing a challenge by Kinijit supporters in Nashville who are angry at the Keysi group that is collaborating with the Iyasu Alemayehu faction of EPRP to attack the Kinijit leadership.
Keysi’s Tsehay Demeke wrote the following on the EPRP web site, debteraw, when the Kinijit delegation arrived in Washington DC on Sept. 9.
Here they come – the party is on but Where is Eng. Hailu Shawel?
By T. Demeke
The much expected CUD North America Delegate of 4 has arrived today and joined by Dr. Berhanu Nega at Dulles International Airport in Washington DC. I will take this opportunity to welcome them to North America.
Of the six delegates who has been appointed by the CUD, one colorful and admired leader is absent, and he is Engineer Hailu Shawel, the president of the CUD and head of the delegate. According to sources The Embassy of the United States of America and State Department has a hand on the reason behind his absence by delaying his entry visa process to the US. If there is a rumour of conspiracy, then let there be no doubt that The United States of America which is a close ally of the current government of Ethiopia is capable of doing that. In my humble opinion, member of the delegates who have spent 20 months of harsh prison terms with him should have been forming solidarity with this noble man and wait until the process is completed. but uncharacteristically to CUD leaders, that didn’t happen. Some even went to an extent of defending the action of the US Embassy by saying the delay was a technical issue and the reception at the Embassy was cordial.
Why the rush to North America with out the leader and before the Ethiopian millennium celebration is the question posed by many, and so far no good explanation has been forwarded. According to Eng. Gizachew Shifiraw (member of the delegate) – please see the interview on Ethiozagol blog – they are coming here for two reasons: #1) to thank the Diaspora Ethiopians in North America for the material and moral support they provided while they are in prison. #2) to resolve the Diaspora Crisis in North America which has engulfed much of the 2006-2007.
Although thanking the Diaspora Ethiopians is a good thing but not a major issue that demands prompt action, I would like to point out the second issue (resolving the crisis) is a delicate issue that needs precautions and a little bit of time. As we know, there are two groups in North America that are not co-operating but fighting each other for the same goal: The existing Kinijit North America which the leaders know before they went to prison and may have a link to KIC / and the current Kinijit North America which was created after the leaders went to prison and has its link with KIL. These two groups embarrassingly failed to resolve their problem and now I am afraid the spill may contaminate the CUD leaders themselves in Ethiopia.
It is important to point out here that of the six delegate members, only Eng. Hailu Shawel and Dr. Berhanu Nega has the experience and a good knowledge of the political dynamic of Diaspora Ethiopians in North America. While Eng. Hailu has a tremendous loyal group of followers in the existing KNA structure across the continent, Dr. Berhanu has a very good knowledge of the existing and the current KNA structure. So with out Eng. Hailu Shawel which commands a great respect of Diaspora Ethiopians, I don’t think the problem can be resolved with a simple theory of democracy that Eng. Gizachiew has explained in his interview. If that is the determination then I will say welcome to the crisis of North America.
The political problem in the Diaspora is like a spider wave. If you are in it then it is very difficult to get out of it. It can even destroy your mission and long term vision. So that is why we are asking precaution especially of from the non experienced member of the team. The sight should be in Ethiopia but not in the Diaspora. The CUD needs each and every one of us. Treat a support group as a support group. A divided support group means less material and moral support. You can not control or dictate a support group but if handled well there is a great potential of resources that can help the struggle and the people of Ethiopia.
As we venture in the Diaspora Crisis chapter of the drama book, the formidable enemy of the Ethiopian people Melese Zenawi is still busy killing a nation and destroying a society. He will be more than happy if we take away the action from Ethiopia to North America. All we are asking is to look at the biggest picture.
Doctors have long argued over the health effects of coffee, but its reputation looks set to receive a boost thanks to a new flavoured condom that aims to encourage safer sex in Ethiopia.
Around 300,000 of the coffee condoms were sold in one week when they were launched in September, according to the US charity DKT International.
It hopes to tap into Ethiopia’s coffee mania as a means to tackle high rates of HIV in the country, which is said to have invented the drink.
The charity said that with 2.1% of Ethiopians infected with Aids – and more than 7% in the capital, Addis Ababa – the flavoured prophylactic was more than a novelty.
“Everybody likes the flavour of coffee,” says a DKT spokeswoman.
The condoms are sold in packs of three for 1 birr, or about 5 pence – about half the price of a cup of coffee in Addis Ababa’s cafes, and much cheaper than most other condom brands.
The dark brown condoms smell like Ethiopia’s popular macchiato, an espresso with a generous amount of cream and sugar.
“It is about time to use an Ethiopian flavour for beautiful Ethiopian girls,” said Dereje Alemu, a 19-year-old university student.
The product was developed after complaints by some users about the latex scent of plain condoms.
DTK has previously introduced flavoured condoms in other parts of the world in an attempt to appeal to local tastes. These included condoms scented with the infamously stinky durian fruit in Indonesia, and sweetcorn-fragranced condoms in China.
The charity’s latest condom has attracted some criticism in deeply conservative Ethiopia.
“It’s inappropriate,” said Bedilu Assefa, a spokesman for the Ethiopian Orthodox church, whose millions of followers are encouraged to abstain from sex outside marriage. “We’re proud of our coffee.”
But even those not sold on the idea of coffee condoms recognise the importance of safe sex.
“I hate coffee-flavored condoms,” said Tadesse Teferi, a 37-year-old mechanic. “But I use ordinary condoms when I have sex with ladies other than my wife.”
