SOMALIA - FIGHTING ERUPTS IN MOGADISHU

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NAIROBI 000951 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR AF/E AND A/S CARSON E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER SO SUBJECT: SOMALIA - FIGHTING ERUPTS IN MOGADISHU ¶1. (SBU) Summary: In the worst fighting in months, on May 9-10 Islamic extremists allied with Hisbul Islami clashed with Transitional Federal Government (TFG) troops and TFG-allied militias in Mogadishu. Over 60 Somalis were killed, including civilians, and hundreds more injured and displaced. Sporadic shelling reportedly continues in Mogadishu. TFG officials say that TFG-allied former-Islamic Courts Union militias and their leaders, including Yusuf Mohamed "Indha Adde" defected to the Islamists during the fighting. The government has lost control of the important Industrial Road area of Mogadishu. TFG soldiers and police are holding defensive positions along Sodonka Road in the Hawl-Wadag and Wardhigley neighborhoods. The Prime Minister told us the TFG will require more arms and ammunition in the days ahead, and asked us and the wider international community for help. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) On May 9-10, TFG-allied former Islamic Courts Union (ICU) militia clashed with al-Shabaab and Hisbul Islam (HI) forces in Mogadishu in the bloodiest fighting in months. Over 60 Somalis were killed, including at least 20 civilians. Scores were wounded and displaced. According to media reports, sporadic mortar fire persists. ¶3. (SBU) By May 10 radical Islamists held swaths of the Wardhigley and Yaqshid districts hitherto under the control of the former ICU and Yusuf Mohamed "Indha Adde"-allied militia. Al-Shabaab and HI now control the Industrial Road area from the former Ministry of Defense compound to the Pasta Factory. According to several TFG sources al-Shabaab and allied militia now have full or partial control over six out of Mogadishu's 16 districts, up from five of 16 as reported by TFG officials in March. ¶4. (SBU) After May 10's heavy fighting, the government withdrew the remaining loyal ICU militias into the city center to rally them, Security Minister Omar Hashi and Intelligence Chief Mohammed Sheikh told us on May 11. They were replaced with 1,000 TFG soldiers and police, who blocked further al-Shabaab advances on May 10 at Ba'aad Market and in the vicinity of the Tafiq Hotel. However, Minister Omar Hashi told us that these TFG forces had failed to retake ground during three counterattacks May 11, and were relegated to holding defensive positions along Sodonka Road spanning the Hawl-Wadag, Wardhigley and Yaqshid districts. Prime Minister Omar Sharmarke joined Minister Hashi in reporting that the government will soon need arms and especially ammunition to bolster their counter-attacks. Contrary to some media reports and al-Shabaab claims, AMISOM was not involved in the fighting. ¶5. (SBU) Some ICU forces loyal to the TFG defected to al-Shabaab, according to Minister Hashi and the Prime Minister. Sources in Mogadishu told us Indha Adde first betrayed the TFG by provoking a clash with Hassan Dahir Aweys, a fellow Ayr clan member, without TFG approval on May 9 only to surrender to Aweys, giving up his heavy weaponry and militia. According to TFG MP and former defense deputy minister Salad Ali Jelle (Hawiye/Habr Gedr) Indha Adde's Ayr militia and most of the Habr Gedr clan militia in TFG-allied ICU switched sides to join their former Islamist comrades. That left only the Abgaal--president Sharif's clan -- and other mostly non-Habr Gedr ICU militia and original TFG military and police on the TFG's side. ¶6. (SBU) Multiple sources tell us Al-Shabaab's fighters clearly included Middle Easterners, Asians, and non-Somali Africans. The self-proclaimed Banadir region al-Shabaab chief did not deny that foreign jihadists were taking part in the clashes. He said "we do not distinguish between jihadists [and native Somalis], and we'll seek and accept support from our brothers whatever their nationality." Unconfirmed reports indicate an estimated 400 foreign Jihadists are in Mogadishu, although that number may be inflated. ¶7. (SBU) These May 9-10 clashes erupted following a number of attempted and successful tit-for-tat assassinations involving al-Shabaab and the former ICU, the most recent on May 7, when the ICU attempted to kill a senior al-Shabaab commander on the outskirts of Mogadishu. ¶8. (U) President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed on May 11 held a press conference at Villa Somalia to call for immediate cessation of hostilities. The most important goal of his government is to avoid civilian casualties, he said. President Sharif blamed unnamed foreign countries for supporting the current wave of violence. He said people who have made violence a profession and a way of life are behind the conflicts in Somalia. He reiterated his government's commitment to dialogue and reconciliation to spare Somalis from further suffering. In a clear reference to Inda Adde, Sharif criticized those who have "broken their pledges and turned their back on peace." ¶8. (SBU) Comment: As al-Shabaab did in Kismayo, Baidoa and Merka, it has taken advantage of local clan rivalries, in this case between NAIROBI 00000951 002 OF 002 the Hawiye/Habr Gedr/Ayr and the Hawiye/Abgal, to score a military success. TFG officials with whom we spoke said they were confident they could prevent further TFG advances, but would need weapons and ammunition soon. We noted to Minister Hashi that AMISOM had the most ready supply of both. He responded that AMISOM would need instructions to share them. All of our contacts also cited the conspicuous presence of "foreign fighters," reportedly especially south Asians and combatants from the Middle East,in the fighting. End Comment. RANNEBERGER