Washington’s Somali allies killing each other

This 1995 Associated Press video says about itself:

Somalia – American And Italian Troops Withdraw

American and Italian troops finally left the beaches of Mogadishu on Friday (3/3), bringing to an end the costly … mission. The Marines on the beach had sporadic but intense fire-fights with Somalis positioned at the airport. Operation United Shield was proclaimed a success, however Somalis are left with no legitimate government and the continued prospect of civil war.

Another video used to say about itself:

Since the US-backed Ethiopian (TPLF) invasion and occupation of Somalia – Meles Zenawi & Ethiopian TPLF troops has committed (and still commit) acts of crimes against the Somalia people. Crimes of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in Somalia especially in Mogadishu in violation of international law. The constant attacks and extensive carpet bombarding on the civilian residential areas of Mogadishu (Somalia) by the Ethiopian troops has displaced 1,000,000 people mostly women and children. Somalia people are forced to live on an open ground and under trees in the outskirts of the city without any help. Hospitals are overwhelmed with thousands of injured people and the dead.

From Associated Press today:

16 killed in shootout between Somali army, police

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Fighting between Somali government troops and police killed 16 people in Somalia‘s capital on Monday, witnesses said, underscoring the weak U.N.-backed government’s inability to control its armed forces.

The fighting began when police executed a plainclothes soldier they suspected of being an Islamist insurgent, police officer Ahmed Nur said. The soldier’s colleagues arrived at the scene of the shooting in Benadir market and began attacking the police, he said.

An Associated Press reporter saw 16 bodies at Medina hospital in Mogadishu. Some of the victims were wearing uniforms. Three of the victims were women. Hospital director Mohamed Yusuf said 30 people were wounded.

Cleaners tried to mop up blood from the floor as women screamed outside the hospital. Hundreds of people gathered by the gates, seeking their wounded or dead.

“My husband was killed,” wept Hasno Ali. “He was just a businessman.”

The killings underscore the lack of discipline and command of Somalia‘s armed forces after 20 years of civil war. There have been several shoot-outs between police and soldiers in recent years and analysts say the Somali armed forces are more like a collection of militiamen than a well-trained, disciplined national force.

Desertion over lack of pay has been a major problem, impeding the government’s ability to fight an al-Qaida linked Islamist insurgency.

…

Currently international donors led by Italy

Berlusconi‘s Italy; the colonial power in Somalia when it still was Mussolini’s Italy

and the U.S. are supposed to pay around 8,000 Somali soldiers. An EU-led program is halfway through training 2,000 Somali government troops but trainers say one of the biggest problems they faced has been the lack of midlevel junior officers whose duty it is to impose discipline and ensure orders are carried out.

See also here.

Mogadishu — At least 12 people mainly civilians were slain and more 30 others wounded after some of Somali government forces opened anti-aircraft gunshots to civilian people in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, witnesses said on Monday: here.

At least 20 people were killed Monday including many civilians after Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia soldiers open indiscriminate fire upon civilians, Radio Garowe reports: here.

One day after Somali soldiers killed more than 15 civilian people and wounded 81 others in Mogadishu shooting spree, the ministers of defense and interior of Somalia’s transitional federal government should be brought to justice, an official said on Tuesday: here.

The ongoing civil war in Somalia has taken the lives of many parents whose children end up living on the street. The kids use all types of drugs, from opium to glue, and become victims of crime, sexual assault, abuse, exploitation … and they are prey to recruiters for the country’s militias: here.