Jihidi militia in Mogadishu, SomaliaI wrote an article back on July 3rd profiling the Islamist takeover of Somalia and the new jihad front in East Africa.
With Sudan and Somalia in jihadi control, Christian Ethiopia is now facing an Islamic assault on two sides.
With the so-called `Islamic Courts' militias moving in on the last outpost of Somalia's transistional non-Islamist government ,Ethiopian troops rolled into the Somali town of Baidoa yesterday, in an effort to protect what's left of the country's transitional government and prevent all of Somalia from going Islamist.
Officially, Ethiopia's government denied the presence of its troops in Somalia but claimed it would "crush" any Islamist effort to take control of Baidoa, currently the seat of Somalia's transitional government and the only town left under government control.
On Wednesday, militia troops entered the town of Buur Hakaba just 37 miles from Baidoa.
"I am calling on the Somali people to wage a holy war against Ethiopians in Somalia," said Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys of the Union of Islamic Courts.
Ethiopia has a long history with Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf and Sheik Aweys...in the 1990s the Ethiopians helped him defeat an Islamist takeover attempt led by Aweys.
Aweys, of course is an al Qaeda adjunct. He's been on the US list of people "linked to terrorism" since shortly after the 9/11 attacks in 2001.
If the Ethiopians enter Baidoa in force, we could see a shooting war here...one that might also bring in Sudan and/or Eritrea.
Stay tuned...
I think it's more a line in the sand for Ethiopia. Plus,preserving the Provisional Government provides a political check on the Islamists and keep opposition to them viable.
ReplyDeleteAlso, neither of us know the strategic nature of the ground. This could very well be an important outpost.