Thursday, February 19, 2009

Former Insurgents Take Control of Mogadishu Checkpoints

Troops from the Islamic Courts Union, a former insurgent group that now backs Somalia's new president, have taken over control of checkpoints in the capital Mogadishu from government soldiers. The development comes as Ethiopian troops, who patrolled the city for much of the past two years and began withdrawing from the country earlier this year, were reported crossing the border into Somalia again.

With much of southern and central Somalia under the control of hard-line Islamist insurgents opposed to the government, the immediate task for the country's new moderate Islamist president, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, is to re-establish security in the capital, Mogadishu.

On Thursday, the government took one step toward this goal, replacing the government forces manning checkpoints in the city, who had had been accused of attacking and stealing from civilians - with fighters belonging to the Islamic Courts Union, an insurgent group that has thrown its backing to President Sharif, a former insurgent leader...more..http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-02-19-voa49.cfm

1 comment:

  1. Obama is a great president. His presence is impacting grants like no other president prior. Grant funding for minorities and middle class have increased nearly 10,000% in the past week.

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    Obama's New Grants
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    Largest Grant Amounts in History!

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