Ethiopia “Halfway to Crushing” Somali Islamists
by John Little on 26/12/2006“A joint Somali government and Ethiopian force has broken the back of the international terrorist forces…” – These forces are in full retreat,” Prime Minister Meles Zenawi
Halfway isn’t too bad. Just keep going:
Ethiopia said on Tuesday it was halfway to crushing Somali Islamists as its forces advanced on the religious movement’s Mogadishu stronghold after a week of war in the Horn of Africa.
Somalia’s envoy to Addis Ababa said Ethiopian troops were within 70 km (40 miles) of the capital and could capture it in 24 to 48 hours.
Islamists countered that they were ready for a long war and any attempt to oust them would prove disastrous for their foes.
Suprisingly (it shouldn’t be but is) the State Department has decided to openly support Ethiopia:
The State Department signaled support Tuesday for Ethiopian military operations against Somalia, noting that Ethiopia has had “genuine security concerns” stemming from the rise of Islamist forces in its eastern neighbor.
Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos also said that the Ethiopian military acted at the request of Somalia’s internationally backed secular government, which has been resisting with little success the spreading influence of the more powerful Islamist forces.
Gallegos noted that Ethiopia has said that its action is intended to prevent further aggression by the Islamic Courts militias.
Andrew Heavens blogs from Addis Ababa:
From a facile point of view in Addis Ababa, nothing seems to have changed. Today seems very much like yesterday. Perhaps it is a bit quieter. Perhaps everyone is a bit more sullen on the streets. Things have been getting a bit quieter for a while now. There have been all sorts of rumours of round-ups and so on going on – so far totally unsubstantiated. But the rumours have been enough.
Somalia’s Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) has reportedly made a few threats about striking Addis Ababa. I don’t know anyone who is seriously expecting to see suicide bombers in Meskel Square. But again, the threats have their impact. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs here issued a typically defiant reaction to the UIC statement saying if extremists within the Islamic Courts could attack Addis Ababa then they would have done so by now.
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