Seeking to consolidate its rule, the newly established Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has imposed martial law. It has begun house-to-house searches in the capital, Mogadishu, to disarm the population.

In the last week of December, thousands of Ethiopian army troops, backing the “transitional” government based in the southwestern town of Baidoa, routed the Islamist forces that for six months had controlled Mogadishu and much of Somalia’s south. That government, based on various clan leaders, was set up in 2004 by Washington and European imperialist powers to fill the vacuum of central authority prevailing in Somalia since 1991. However, it was too weak to take over Mogadishu until the Ethiopian invasion.  
 
Bombings by U.S. Special Forces
As the SICC militias were besieged in the south, U.S Special Forces gunships launched bombing attacks against them beginning on January 8.

After five days of fighting in the southern town of Ras Kamboni, Somali and Ethiopian troops, backed by MiG fighters, captured the last SICC stronghold, chasing its forces into nearby forests, according to Somalia’s new defense minister, Col. Barre “Hirale” Aden Shire. Some SICC militiamen reportedly remain in hiding in the capital.

Washington said its bombing was aimed at several al-Qaeda leaders in Somalia. An unnamed senior U.S. official told the Associated Press that none were killed in the air strike.

The U.S. Navy has moved additional forces off the Somali coast, aiding the ground operations as well as “monitoring maritime traffic and intercepting and interrogating crews on suspicious ships,” AP reported. With the arrival of the USS Ramage guided missile destroyer, there are now five U.S. warships, including the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier.

The British charity Oxfam reported January 12 that air attacks on fleeing Islamic forces had killed 70 nomadic herdsmen near the town of Afmadow. “Bombs have hit vital water sources as well as large groups of nomads and their animals who had gathered round large fires at night to ward off mosquitoes,” Oxfam said.

The fighting has left nearly 200,000 Somali refugees cut off from relief supplies near the border with Kenya.  
 
Martial law declared
Meanwhile, the “transitional” parliament voted January 13 to give the government of President Abdullahi Yusuf the authority to declare martial law for a three-month period. Two days later the national security agency shut down Somalia’s main broadcasters, three radio stations and al-Jazeera TV, accusing them of “instigating violence.” The day before, clan leaders signed an agreement with the TFG to lay down their arms and integrate their militias into the national army. Somalia’s clan-based militias reportedly total 20,000 fighters.

Government and Ethiopian soldiers have begun house-to-house weapons searches in parts of Mogadishu to enforce the disarmament order. In a country with little government authority up to now, many residents carry weapons.

Given the weakness of the government and the unpopularity of the Ethiopian troops among many Somalis, Washington and its allies in Europe are pushing to establish a “peacekeeping” force of 8,000 troops from other African countries. BBC reported January 15 that an African Union delegation was meeting in Mogadishu to discuss the matter. So far only the Ugandan government has offered troops.

U.S. and Somali officials said a small team of U.S. Special Forces entered southern Somalia as part of Washington’s military operations in the area. Reuters news agency called it “the first known case of U.S. military boots on the ground in Somalia” since U.S. troops ended their 1993-94 invasion of that country.

The Ethiopian troops that intervened in Somalia have been trained, equipped, and supplied with intelligence by U.S. forces at Washington’s base in neighboring Djibouti, where the 1,500-strong Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa was set up as part of the U.S.-led “global war on terror.” The Special Forces gunships that bombed southern Somalia flew out of the Djibouti base.  
 
 
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