MOGADISHU: At least eight people were killed when insurgents from the hard-line Hizbul Islam and Al-Shabaab rebel groups took a town in central Somalia from pro-government militia, residents and a rights group said.
More than a dozen others were injured when the rebels struck Baladweyne, capital of the Hiiran region, and wrested it from clan militia loyal to the government and moderate group Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca.
“At least eight people were killed and 21 others were injured around Baladweyne. All these casualties took place in the suburbs of the town,” Ali Yasin Gedi, the vice chairman of the Elman human rights group told Reuters.
One resident said the insurgents looted offices of the World Food Program (WFP) and Save the Children (UK) aid agencies and carted off computers and other goods.
“I also saw them taking a car. The rebels are now in the town but the clan militia may return any time. Most of the residents fled days ago except a few poor ones like me,” she said.
WFP said this month it was suspending much of its work in parts of the conflict-torn country. Concerns about Al-Shabaab, which is viewed by Washington as Al-Qaeda’s proxy in the region, has risen in recent weeks due to its links with Al-Qaeda-aligned groups in the Arabian Peninsula.
Diplomatic sources meanwhile said in Brussels that EU foreign ministers will on Monday give the green light for European instructors to train some 2,000 Somali soldiers to reinforce the embryonic governmental army. “The plan is to train 2,000 members of the Somali security forces in Uganda, one diplomat said Friday.
The operation, in which around 100 European military personnel will take part, could begin in May, another diplomat said, adding that it had not yet been determined which EU nations would contribute, on a voluntary basis. “We are in the process of discussing the national contributions,” he said.
Somalia has been gripped by civil wars and insurgencies and bereft of stable government since the overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
Uganda was chosen because its troops constitute the bulk of the African Union mission in Somalia, AMISOM.
Off the coast of Somalia, the EU is running an anti-piracy mission in the waters of the Gulf of Aden, but senior officials say the real way to combat the problem is on Somali territory.
The EU has given substantial political support to the interim government, as well as funding the AMISOM mission.
The idea was discussed by EU defense ministers in November with France and Spain in particular strongly in favor.
The European foreign ministers on Monday will also discuss “what equipment and pay the Somali troops will need,” a diplomat said.
