Within the past week, the western-backed Transitional Government of Somalia has lost its Internal Security Minister, a senior police commander and an ambassador. The three men were killed by Islamist insurgents fighting to topple President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.
A Somali fighter firing a heavy machine gun in Mogadishu. Prolonged chaos has left Somalia flooded with weapons.
Somali nationals say the fighting in Mogadishu and other parts of the countryside is the worst since the country plunged into chaos back in 1991. Though Somalis are eager for peace, armed groups are getting financial and military support from international players. This is the reason why fighting in Somalia is so brutal. The guilty parties are: The United States, Ethiopia, Eritrea and the Gulf Arab states. Minor players include Egypt, Yemen and Libya.
A Somali teenager taking position during heavy fighting between pro-government forces and Islamist militias. In Somalia, armed groups frequently shift their loyalties making it extremely complicated for foreigners to understand the situation.
Though Kenya supports the Transitional Government, it has not had a major military intervention deep into Somalia. With growing attacks on Somali government officials, Kenyan foreign minister Moses Wetangula said that Kenya will get involved though the depth of involvement has not been clarified.
Bodies of combatants left to rot in the streets. Without a functioning administration, there is nobody to collect and bury the bodies. There are no mortuaries to preserve the bodies.
Needless to say, foreign intervention in Somalia has created more death and misery to a nation that has become synonymous with chaos.
A woman carrying a wounded child to hospital. Civilians have suffered heavy casualties as combatants fire rockets and mortars indiscriminately. Iraq-style roadside bombings and suicide attacks have lately emerged in Somalia. Picture by the Kuwait Times.
Somali citizens using public transport vehicles to flee from the escalation of fighting in the capital of Mogadishu.
A US Airforce AC-130 gunship. The US has used this aircraft in its military intervention in Somalia. The AC-130 is an attack version of the popular C-130 transport aircraft.
Filed under: News | Tagged: african union, al shabaab, baidoa, eritrea, ethiopia, hizbul al islam, kenya, kismayu, mogadishu, Omar Hashi Aden, sheikh hassan dahir aweys, sheikh sharif ahmed, somali pirates, somalia, transitional government of somalia |
The Nairobi Chronicle 
With her outdated and mulfunctioning weaponry plus an untested military, Kenya ought to think twice before entering into this war. This will only work if the World Cop(U.S.A) backs Kenya.
Everytime i watch Black Hawk Down i am reminded how resilient the Somalis are………
Its been 3yrs since you posted this. Kenya has sent troops across the boarder, al shabab has just been kicked out of afgoye and are headed to kismayo. How things change…..
i agree totally with you. We are not ready to take on such lunatics !
The fact is that it is difficult to fight these thugs since they only specialize in hit and run warfare and suicide bombing. Were they an organized outfit like a national army then it would be easy dealing with them. The best thing to do is not to send in our forces there but to secure our borders and wait for them to cross if they can. That way we can deal with them easily. I really pity the children, women and the elderly who have to put up with all the cruelty and trauma inside Somalia.
Makbeth,
I don’t agree with your statement that the Kenya military has outdated and mulfunctioning weaponry. Atleast you should check some of your data. Kenya has some of the best weapons in the region if you check data. Years of corruption might have compromised procurement but has not made the weaponry worse off compared to the neighbours.
It is very easy to fight this guys. Why do you think of an all out military confrontation with a guerilla force? With the right preparation, we can use Somali’s to fight Al-shabab and maybe we occasionally step in to provide “technical” support, the Russian way.
Kenya has played safe by keeping its forces away from this conflict – even though it has been involved in the training of the government troops. A direct Kenyan involvement in Somalia’s tangled web of problem would see about a surge in violence across the borders and into the heart of Kenya.
islamic group are crysis in somalia.they should be killed and buried outside somalia.dont they know that the government itself are muslims.alshabab should be killed one by one,
Evrey body hate Somalia FUCKING ARAB COUNTRYS
Somalia: may Allah make it peace Amin
ARAB COUNTRYS ARE THE worst human in this warld my allah punish them for what they do to Somalias AAAAAAMIIIIN
Dahh! Somalian what are fitting its land or there other thing make u to fit…….let be 2gether as 1…….like LUcky Dube sid……….In God we trust