Defeated clan leader says seeking Ethiopian military aid

[AbuubakarAli]

Posted: 8/30/2008 9:31:00 AM
Shabelle: GARBAHAREY

Col Barre Adan Shire (Hirale) who was driven out of Kismayo is holding talks with elders and the administration of Garbaharey, the capital of Gedo Region.

Barre Hirale, who arrived with his militiamen in Garbaharey yesterday morning, has been holding various meetings since yesterday with the elders and the administration of the area on the fighting in Kismayo and the current situation there.

MP Barre Hiiraale who was recently defeated in Kismayo by Islamist fighters is said to be planning to cross the border to Dolow District in Ethiopia where he will ask for military assistance from the Ethiopian troops based there.

Further reports say that officers accompanying Barre Hirale wish to go further into Ethiopia to meet with other Ethiopian officers.

Meanwhile, the first deputy governor of Gedo Region, Muhammad Abdi Kalil, told Mareeg online that they support Barre Hiiraale's efforts to recapture Kismayo city.

Somalia has been at war since 1991, when clan-based militias ousted Siad Barre, a socialist dictator, and then fought for power among themselves.

The conflict is complicated by clan loyalties and the involvement of archenemies Eritrea and Ethiopia, who both back opposite sides in the fighting.

The last UN peacekeeping force in Somalia included American troops who arrived in 1992 and tried to arrest warlords and create a government.

The US involvement ended in October 1993, when fighters shot down a US Army Black Hawk helicopter during a battle that killed 18 American soldiers.

Since then, Ethiopian troops have helped Somalia's fragile transitional government push the Islamists from power in Mogadishu and much of the south, but failed to establish security or improve living standards

Shabelle Media Network

[AbuubakarAli]

‘I will fight till death,’ says Kismayo’s former warlord-ruler
29 Aug 29, 2008 - 5:29:05 PM

KISMAYO, Somalia Aug 29 (Garowe Online) - The warlord who ruled the southern Somali port of Kismayo until being militarily expelled by an alliance of clan fighters and Islamist guerrillas said he will retake Kismayo ‘by force.’

In an interview with the BBC Somali Service, Col. Barre Hirale said he lost many men and armored trucks during battles in Lower Jubba region last week.

“The local clans set up roadblocks along the road, seven or eight,” he said, adding: “We lost many of our men and they [local clans] captured a lot of our vehicles.”

According to Col. Hirale, 18 men were killed during those attacks as he fled Kismayo on his way to Bardhere town, in Gedo region.

He specifically named the Kablalah clan, which is part of the larger Darod clan-family, as spearheading the violent takeover of Kismayo last week.

“They [Kablalah] were helped by al Shabaab, the [Islamic] Courts and a special unit from ARS [Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia],” said Col. Hirale, who is a Member of Parliament in Somalia.

The ex-warlord categorically denied that he was the commander of Marehan clan militias, who ruled Kismayo since April 2007 after expelling the Somali government-appointed Lower Jubba regional administration and government soldiers belonging to the Kablalah sub-clans, which include the Harti and the Ogaden.

“I am a Member of Parliament in Kismayo and I was not causing any trouble…my children live there, my three wives live there,” Col. Hirale said.

He pledged "to fight till death" in efforts to retake Kismayo from rival clan fighters.

Kismayo’s former-warlord ruler indirectly admitted that the local clans’ complaints of injustice at the hands of Marehan clan militias was justified, saying: “Its true that roadblocks are bad for the culture and the religion and I welcome anyone who fights against it [roadblocks] and I used to fight against it myself.”

Col. Hirale’s most profound moment during the interview came he openly stated that, aside from being an MP, he was in fact a “clan leader.”

“When I find someone to replace me as a [Marehan] clan leader, then I will relinquish my position [as clan leader] and move on to the government system,” he said.

The strategic port city of Kismayo, which is the capital of Lower Jubba region, has been the scene of endless infighting among Darod sub-clans since the 1990s, when the Somali civil war erupted.

Kismayo has been safe since Islamists and allied clan fighters took control last week, according to locals and Radio Garowe's correspondent.

Source: Garowe Online

[AbuubakarAli]

Barre Hirale steps up maneuvers against islamists
Posted: 8/31/2008 10:13:00 AM
Shabelle: GARBAHAREY

Somali MP Colonel Barre Aden Shire Hirale has heaped on aligned to the islamist fighters seized Kismyo town from His militiamen.

Militias regrouping and arming process goes in Gedo region led by the administration of the region to get rid the Islamist of Kismayo town a previous stronghold of Mr. Hirale.

Hirale himself is in Ethiopia to ask Ethiopian government to help him to push out the islamists from Kismayo.

Further reports say that officers accompanying Barre Hirale wish to go further into Ethiopia to meet with other Ethiopian officers.

Meanwhile, the first deputy governor of Gedo Region, Muhammad Abdi Kalil, told Shabelle online that they support Barre Hirale's efforts to recapture Kismayo city.

The islamist fighters are still controlling the town.

Civilians have borne the heaviest brunt of battles between Islamist fighters and the Ethiopian forces. At least 6,000 have died in the past year alone, many in Mogadishu, the scene of almost daily attacks.

Some Islamists, including the spokesman Robow, have rejected a United Nations-backed truce between moderate Islamists and the government reached in June, insisting that the Ethiopians must pull out.

Shabelle Media Network

Shebelle Media Network - Source of Somalia News

[Cabdulaahi01]

hahha barre hiiraale what a coward, he has continously boasted about how he defeated the islamic courts in 2006/7 (with ethiopia's help) but when confronted by alshabaab he runs off with his dameer. hahaha no more jubbaland, no more militias, no more warlordism, kismaayo has fallen into the hands of the freedom fighters. peace to kismaayo!

[bluesteel]

It's to late for him. His milita ran away and then regrouped outside the city. They attacked Kismayo to get it back and Al-Shabab and the locals chased them away. Al-Shabab then decided to chase him has far has possible and killed 18 of his drug addicted fighters. He tried to run away to baardheere to regroup but I heard that Al-Shabab outsmarted him and got there before him. So he had to go futher north in Gedo.

Now He is begging the Ethiopians. It's to late. The Ethiopians won't send fresh forces to attack Kismayo. If they could they would have done so a long time ago. Any more attempt to send more troops will probably be a last gasp at controlling Somalia. More likely they will send soldiers already in Somalia.

They can't let Al-Shabab control Kismayo. Mujahideen,Money and Arms will flow freely in that port making it impossible for them to ever win.