Ethiopians Take On Last
Somali Islamist Stronghold
See-Dubya
NYT says they’re chugging along toward the city of Kismayo, where the Islamists seem ready to make their stand. They are still in full Baghdad Bob mode:
Sheilk Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a high-ranking cleric, vowed not to go down without a fight.
“I want to tell you that the Islamic courts are still alive and ready to fight against the enemy of Allah,” Mr. Ahmed told residents of Kismayo in a speech today. “We left Mogadishu in order to prevent bloodshed in the capital, but that does not mean we lost the holy war against our enemy.” ...
Ethiopia Advances on Somali Islamists’ Last City
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Dec. 30 – A phalanx of Ethiopian tanks and armored personnel carriers chugged toward the last city occupied by Somalia’s diminished Islamist movement, witnesses said today, setting the stage for one final major battle.
According to residents along Somalia’s coast, the Ethiopian troops, along with soldiers from Somalia’s transitional government, were preparing to seize Kismayo, a port city near the Kenyan border where the Islamist leaders have holed up.
Sheilk Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a high-ranking cleric, vowed not to go down without a fight.
"I want to tell you that the Islamic courts are still alive and ready to fight against the enemy of Allah," Mr. Ahmed told residents of Kismayo in a speech today. "We left Mogadishu in order to prevent bloodshed in the capital, but that does not mean we lost the holy war against our enemy.” ...
Just two days ago, in a stunning reversal of fortune, Somalia’s transitional government, with the muscle of the Ethiopian military, reclaimed Mogadishu, driving out the Islamist movement which had ruled large swaths of Somalia. More than a thousand people have been killed in the fighting and Somalia’s leaders now face the daunting task of trying to piece together a country that has not had a central government for 15 years. ...
