MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Ethiopian troops and Somali protesters exchanged fire in Mogadishu on Saturday killing three people, witnesses said, as hundreds of Somalis demonstrated against the foreign forces and a government disarmament drive.
The protesters hurled stones and burned tires, wreathing streets in smoke and reviving memories of the chaos that had largely stopped during six months of strict Islamist rule before the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) was ousted last week.
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"The Ethiopians opened fire and shot dead a young boy and a lady, they also killed another person," a witness said. Other witnesses agreed.
"The (government) and Ethiopian troops invaded our country and they have shot my son for no good reason," Omar Halane, the father of the boy, said.
A government source said one person had died and that police had opened fire in Tarbuunka square, where the Islamists had held regular anti-Ethiopian demonstrations when they controlled the volatile capital.
"Protesters shot at policemen, the police returned fire killing one man," the source said. "I don't know how many people have been wounded."
In the latest show of discontent with the forces that ousted the Islamists, hundreds of Somalis marched through the capital chanting "Down with Ethiopia."
Ethiopian soldiers fired in the air to disperse crowds and government troops armed with AK-47s patrolled the streets.
Somalia's interim government wants to install itself in Mogadishu, one of the world's most dangerous cities, after ousting the Islamists with the help of Ethiopian troops, tanks and warplanes.
Within hours of the Islamists fleeing, militiamen loyal to warlords reappeared at checkpoints in the city where they used to rob and terrorize civilians.
Muse Sudi Yalahow, a warlord dislodged by the Islamists in the June battle for Mogadishu, came back to the capital on Saturday but declined to speak to reporters.
Residents fear Mogadishu could slide back into the anarchy and clan violence that has gripped the city since the 1991 ouster of a dictator.
"We are against the Ethiopian troops' occupation. We don't want them, they should leave," 20-year-old protester Ahmed Mohamed told Reuters. "They are harassing us in our own country. The government is imposing the Ethiopians on us."
Well looks like the Ethiopians are going to follow the US's playbook on occupation. Remember how the Iraqi insurgency only really started after Soldiers fired on protesters in Falluja ?
I recall a couple of posters were mindlessly cheerleading the Ethiopians kicking the Islamic Council out of Somalia. Of course that the easy part. The Ethiopians are a well equipped Third World Army. The best the IC had was machine gun armed pickup trucks. Noow we get to the real job. After you've elimited the previous authority how do you impose your own ? Especially when you have the big negative of being a foriegnor ?
I know people are going to say the Provisional Govt is the one recognized by the UN etc. That's nice. Doesnt change the fact that without Ethiopian help the Provisonal Govt would still be stuck in Baidoa under seige from the IC. It isnt like the PG was elected either. its basically a collection of various warlords who've decided to 'play nice.' The PG may be the recognized govt. The real question is will the Somalis accept it as a govt .
Oh and for those that say that at least we got rid of the bad guys, my response is this. Removing the Islamic Courts (or Saddam Hussien) is only worthwhile if thier replacement is better. If their replacement is anarchy or a return to the warlords, then you've just traded one evil for another evil and maybe even a bigger evil at that.
Sure you've saved someone from being killed for not following islamic edicts. But instead they're going to get killed by thier local plundering warlord/gang leader. Dead is Dead .
So I'm going to wait and se if the PG can establish order without too much bloodshed before I call this a success.