Somali Islamists Issue Threats

Apparently at least one of spokesmen for the Somali islamists stopped briskly walking long enough to issue threats against the Ethiopians and Somali government forces. This is at least as credible as the islamists last vow to never run from their enemies. The did that before the last brisk bug-out, of course.

The Islamists, who fled their last stronghold on Monday after a two-week conflict, said they refused a government offer to surrender and reports of a deadly ambush against Ethiopian forces showed the fighting may be far from over.

A day after Ethiopian troops rolled into the southern town, a resident in Jilib said a Somali gunman shot dead two of their soldiers in the area on Tuesday.

He said Ethiopian forces killed the attacker and, later, two other Somalis. A Somali government source confirmed the ambush but said only one Ethiopian soldier had been killed.

The Islamists did not claim direct responsibility but said such attacks represented a change of tactics.

Analysts say the Islamists, joined by some foreign fighters, may launch an Iraqi-style insurgency against a government they see as propped up by a hated and Christian-led power.

Ethiopian planes, tanks and troops helped the Somali government drive the Islamists from Mogadishu last week, after breaking free from its provincial outpost Baidoa to end six months of Islamist rule across much of southern Somalia.

"If the world thinks we are dead, they should know we are alive. We will rise from the ashes," Islamist spokesman Abdirahim Ali Mudey told Reuters by phone from a hideout.

"The attack is what we have been promising, as a change of tactic in the fight against the Ethiopians," Mudey said. "We are scattered all over, our troops are almost everywhere."

We were fortunate enough to get an exclusive photo of the islamist's new hideout. We expect the AP to pick this up at any moment.

Other Links to this Post

1. Blue Crab Boulevard » Hope For Somalia — Thursday, 4 January , 2007 @ 8:27 am