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| Africa Horn |
| Militia vow to make Somalia Islamic state |
| 2006-06-06 |
| MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Islamic militia vowed to turn Somalia into a religious state on Tuesday, pushing north to take more territory after winning a three-month battle for Mogadishu. But thousands of Mogadishu residents protested against the takeover and defeated warlords said they would fight back. Clan elders warned the Islamic side against more advances. Fighters loyal to sharia courts seized the lawless capital on Monday from a self-styled anti-terrorism coalition of warlords widely believed to be backed by Washington. "Until we get the Islamic state, we will continue with the Islamic struggle in Somalia," Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, chairman of Mogadishu Islamic courts, told a rally of hundreds. "This is a long Islamic struggle and it will continue until the whole country comes under sharia law," Fuad Ahmed, a militiaman loyal to the Islamic side, told Reuters. "We are ready to shed our blood in order for that struggle to succeed." |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #5 "We are appealing to agencies involved with humanitarian aid for Somalia to come to the rescue of the people affected by the conflict." Inshallah, remember. Go ask Allan. |
| Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 2006-06-06 20:14 |
| #4 Besides which, if the Islamists push the warlords completely out of the Greater Mogadishu Zone, and try to hit Puntland and/or Somaliland, they will be destroyed. The Puntis and Somalilanders are not about to be forced back into the failed Somali state. We might even see Ethiopian troops doing medium-scale motorized raids into the Islamist sectors. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2006-06-06 16:24 |
| #3 A death wish as a "state" and as tribal groups. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2006-06-06 15:51 |
| #2 Sounds like a job for a carpet bombing. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-06-06 15:47 |
| #1 Sounds like there is a job for an A-team and an AC-130 to do. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-06-06 15:40 |