Troops Accused of Looting And Carjacking

Mogadishu, 30 April 2007 - People in Mogadishu reported massive lootings committed by men in army uniforms although there is stillness in the city where Somali and Ethiopian troops fought with Islamic insurgents for eight days.

Abdulahi Irro, a father of four in Arafat neighborhood, north of the capital, told Shabelle Monday, as he and his family were shifting back to the capital, that his house was looted in daylight by government soldiers.

"Men wearing military uniforms attacked my house and took my car, TV Set and clothes, money and other things, breaking the furniture. I happened to be there while they already were in my house," Irro said, complaining that the government should have disciplined the soldiers.

With the government's army uniforms easily available, at least four men in army uniforms were arrested yesterday around Black Sea neighborhood after they were discovered by government soldiers in the area. According to Ahmed, an eyewitness, the four in the army uniforms with AK 47 guns were surrounded after they were suspected.

"I was there shocked because I realized that everyone can pose as a government soldier. The men were asked questions and identification cards and when they failed to show one. Their guns were confiscated and arrested," Ahmed said.

Somali Prime Minister, Ali Mohammed Gedi, warned government soldiers on Friday that any soldier who is caught plundering private properties will be punished. He also stressed yesterday in a press conference he held in the capital that the Somali police and military force that are lately operational in the capital would shoot anyone caught with looting if necessary.

Men wearing army uniforms attacked a bottling plant and looted the property after shelling it overnight, said Ali Abdi Yusuf, the chairman of Somali Human Rights Action group, said on Friday.

Residents said men in army uniforms and civilian clothes also broke into houses in un-patrolled areas a day after Ethiopian soldiers seized key fighters' positions in the Somali capital, ending eight days of heavy clashes.

Salad Ali Jelle, the Somali deputy defence minister, who went to the areas last Friday where government and Ethiopian soldiers seized after they defeated the Islamic fighters, conceded that looting was taking place, but denied the army was involved.

He said the looters had stolen army uniforms. "Government forces are now in firm control of the capital and it's their responsibility to bring to a halt any violation against the civilians and their properties. Those who are looting are civilians wearing army uniforms." Jelle said.

Amran Omar, a coordinator of a project to train Somali women about health care and media funded by the government of Finland said, "A government property was stolen. Computers and other expensive equipments sent by the government of Finland were ransacked by people in government army uniforms."

She also stated that her house was momentarily occupied by Ethiopian and Somali troops when they evicted Islamist fighters.

Resident said soldiers arrested scores of civilians who rushed to see and check their homes when the government took control of insurgent strongholds in north of the capital. Decomposed bodies could still be visible in the alleys and streets of the neighborhoods near Mogadishu football stadium.

Suleyman Abdulkadir, a resident in Suuq Hoolaha north of Mogadishu, said he was in jail for two days after he was incarcerated by government soldiers as he went to his neighborhood to check the house. "When I went to my house, I saw soldiers in and around my house. They asked me if I had the keys to my house and when I told them that I only arrived for checking they arrested me," he said.

Ali Omar, a driver, said Monday that his car (MarkII) was taken away by government soldiers at Hawlwadag neighborhood. "I had to pay $300 to gain my car back," he said.

Somalia's Union of Islamic Courts were in control of most parts of the country for six months, restoring a resemblance of order but vehemently opposed the UN recognized government and its allied Ethiopian troops present in the country. Islamists and the Ethiopian backed government clashed in December last year as the government seized the capital and most resourceful provinces in southern Somalia.

Remnants of Islamists in the capital fought with the government and Ethiopian troops late March. The government again defeated Islamists as it claimed full of the country.

Somalia has had no affective central government since 1991 when warlords toppled former dictator Mohammed Siad Barre.

Source: Shabelle Media Network

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