Somalia: Hiran Governor Accuses Local Traders of Backing Insurgents

Beletwein, somalia- The governor of Somalia's central Hiran region, Yusuf "Daboged" Mohamed, has threatened to take tough measures against all groups supporting insurgents who are trying to topple the country's interim government.Governor Daboged told reporters in the provincial capital Beletwein Sunday that a meeting of regional and district government officials, attended by military commanders, recently concluded in the town.One of the findings at the meeting is that the insurgents are getting local support for their guerrilla attacks on government security forces and installations, according to the governor.Yusuf Daboged, governor of Hiran region He warned unnamed Beletwein businesspeople about offering support to the insurgency.Speaking about Ethiopian troops, Governor Daboged justified the Ethiopian soldiers patrolling city streets during the night to prevent insurgent attacks.

Rebels raided three government locations last week inside Beletwein, killing government soldiers and briefly seizing control of the city jail.Daboged said the attacks were organized in Galgadud region, north of Hiran. He claimed that Yusuf "Indha Ade" Mohamed Siad, formerly the Islamic Courts' defense chief, is inside Hiran region leading insurgent attacks. Assassination A former military commander was shot and killed by four men armed with pistols in Bule Burte, the second-largest town in Hiran, witnesses said. Abdalla Gedo, who was once Hiran army commander, died at the scene while his wife suffered gunshot wounds and was reported to be in critical condition at the hospital.

No group has claimed responsibility for the assassination, but local officials are linking the murder to insurgents who have used assassination as a tool of political violence. Mr. Gedo has not been working for the government in recent months after receiving repeated death threats, his relatives said.

Locals remember the late Abdalla Gedo for his work in cleaning up illegal roadblocks in parts of Hiran while he was regional army commander.