MOGADISHU, 29 December 2006 — Triumphant Somali government forces and their Ethiopian allies marched into Mogadishu yesterday after Islamist rivals abandoned the war-scarred city they held for six months.
The flight of the Islamists was a dramatic turn-around in the volatile Horn of Africa nation after they took Mogadishu in June and spread across the south imposing Shariah rule.
Terrified of yet more violence in a city that has become a byword for chaos, some Mogadishu residents greeted the arriving government troops, while others hid. “People are cheering as they wave flowers to the troops,” said resident Abdikadar Abdulle, adding scores of government military vehicles had passed the Somalia National University west of the city center.
Parts of Mogadishu shook with the sound of gunfire and there were outbreaks of looting after leaders of the Somali Islamic Courts Council (SICC) fled its base early in the morning. Some fighters threw off their uniforms to avoid reprisals.
“We have been defeated. I have removed my uniform. Most of my comrades have also changed into civilian clothes,” one former SICC fighter said. “Most of our leaders have fled.”
The fall of Mogadishu came about 10 days after the Islamists sought to march on the government base of Baidoa. That prompted Ethiopia to join the war openly, proving the decisive factor in saving the government and pushing back the Islamists.
The SICC had brought a semblance of stability to Mogadishu after chasing US-backed warlords from the city in June. Islamists and residents said order had collapsed with their departure.
“Mogadishu is now in chaos,” Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed told Al Jazeera television.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi vowed to pursue the Islamist leaders. “We will not let Mogadishu burn,” he added.
More than a week of mortar and rocket duels between the Islamists and the Ethiopian-backed government spiraled into open war 10 days ago.
With Eritrea accused of backing the Islamists, many had feared the conflict would engulf the Horn.
The UN refugee agency said at least 17 people were killed and some 140 were missing after the boats in which they were fleeing from Somalia capsized off the coast of Yemen late on Wednesday. Many of the survivors said they were fleeing from the conflict between the Somali government forces and the Islamists.
An insurgent group linked to Al-Qaeda in Iraq urged Muslims to support the Islamists. The so-called Islamic State of Iraq — a coalition of Sunni insurgent groups, chief among them Al-Qaeda in Iraq — said all Muslims should “stand by the side of their brothers in Somalia and to support them financially, with weapons and men, and with prayers.”
