Fighting erupts near Somali govt base

Fighting broke out today between Somalia’s government troops and rival Islamic militia near where an EU envoy was meeting with senior leaders to press for peace talks.

Clashes erupted 10 miles from the government garrison town of Baidoa where Louis Michel, the European commissioner for development and aid was meeting Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi and President Abdullahi Yusuf.

“Islamic militias have attacked us and the fighting is continuing,” Somalia’s deputy defence minister Salad Ali Jelle said of the clash in the strategic village of Moode Moode and opening another front.

Abdirahin Ali Mudey, spokesman for the Islamic movement, said attacks were taking place in three areas and that they had captured the village of Daynunay on the outskirts of Baidoa.

There were no immediate reports of casualties. Local residents said the fighting was between reconnaissance units from the government and Islamic fighters.

Last night, government troops and Islamic militia clashed near Idale, another front-line village north-west of Mogadishu, spokesmen from both sides said.

Ten people were killed.

Fears of a full-blown civil war have intensified in recent weeks as the government and the rival Council of Islamic Courts dismissed efforts to schedule peace talks and threatened military action.

Both sides have moved fighters, fuel and ammunition to the front lines.

Michel is trying to get both sides to stop fighting and commit to high-level peace talks, according to an EU statement released yesterday. He is expected to fly to the capital, Mogadishu, which is controlled by Islamic forces, later in the day.

Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991.

The government, backed by Ethiopian troops, holds only a small area around the central town of Baidoa. The Islamic militias control the capital, Mogadishu, but have also fanned out across most of southern Somalia.

The secular government, backed by the United Nations, has rejected religious rule for Somalia, while the Muslim leaders have insisted on an Islamic government.

A war in Somalia right now would be devastating, the top UN official for Somalia warned last week.

A drought wiped out most of the country’s crops and livestock in late 2005 and early 2006, while flooding since September has destroyed tens of thousands of homes and spread more misery.

Add fighting to the country’s problems and as many as 400,000 refugees could flee into neighbouring Kenya.

Another concern has been the Islamic movement’s alleged ties to international terrorists, something Islamic leaders have repeatedly denied.

Jendayi Frazer, the top US diplomat for Africa, has said al Qaida militants are operating with “great comfort” in Somalia, providing training and assistance to the Islamic militia.

Somali and Ethiopian officials have said they believe men wanted in connection with the 1998 US Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania now hold senior command positions within the Islamic forces.

Jelle told reporters this morning that one of the suspects in the embassy bombings, Abu Talha al Sudani, was leading the fighting near Idale, 40 miles, south-west of Baidoa.

“Sudani, a well-known terrorist, is in charge of the Islamic militias,” Jelle said. “He was leading the militias who attacked us last night.”