Somali Islamists test rockets, say will strike first
Source: Reuters
By Guled Mohamed MOGADISHU, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Somali Islamists test fired rockets on Friday and prepared for war with the government as the United States warned of possible suicide attacks against neighbouring countries. Tension has mounted rapidly in recent weeks and rose another notch after this week's failure to bring together the Islamists, who control the capital and most of southern Somalia, and the weak, Western-backed interim government for peace talks. Both sides' fighters are now facing off just 30 km (19 miles) from the administration's sole outpost, Baidoa town. The Islamists say they are also facing thousands of Ethiopian troops who had invaded to prop up government forces. "The onus is on us to start the fight. We will be the first to strike," one senior Islamist commander, Maalim Hashi Ahmed, told Reuters by telephone. "If someone takes your shirt, it's upon you to repossess it. That is what we plan to do," he said. "Ethiopia has invaded us so it is our responsibility to remove them from our land. We intend to carry out this obligation as soon as possible." Residents of Buur Hakaba, a strategic hill town near the frontlines, said hundreds more Islamist fighters were deployed overnight, and fired heavy weapons early on Friday. "The Islamic troops tested missiles this morning," one local, Yusuf Hassan, told Reuters. "It was really terrifying." SUICIDE ATTACKS The U.S. Embassies in neighbouring Kenya and Ethiopia warned their citizens the two countries could be targets of suicide attacks by "extremist elements" from Somalia. "These threats specifically mention the execution of suicide explosions in prominent landmarks within Kenya and Ethiopia," the embassies said in a statement on Thursday. It said the message was issued in response to reports of "terrorist threats emanating from extremist elements within Somalia" and urged American citizens to be vigilant and use extreme caution when going to well-known public places. Washington accuses the Islamists of harbouring al Qaeda militants and has asked for them to be handed over. The U.S. warning came amid growing fears of a regional war after the Islamists and government failed to meet face-to-face during three days of talks in Sudan. The negotiations were postponed on Wednesday with mediators urging both sides to exercise maximum restraint. U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack called on all sides involved in Somalia not to escalate tensions. Ethiopia's enemy Eritrea has been accused of arming the Islamists. "There are concerns that the situation, the current situation in Somalia, might lend itself to wider violence in the region. And we're doing everything we can to see that that does not happen," McCormack said. But confrontation appeared increasingly likely in Somalia, where one Baidoa resident said hundreds more Ethiopian troops were seen heading for the frontlines by truck. "The Ethiopians are waiting for the Islamists to make a move," he said. "If fighting starts, we will definitely suffer." An Islamist source at Baledogle, Somalia's biggest military airfield, said his forces had also been put on high alert. "All the troops have been told to prepare to fight," he told Reuters. We have been waiting for this for very long. We are raring to go and are ready to remove our enemy from our land."
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