By George Thomas
CBN News
February 5, 2007
Hundreds of thousands have lost their lives. At last count, there were some 53 major clans and give or take 120 sub-clans.
You just have to spend a few minutes on the streets of Mogadishu to sense the tension. This is a community on edge made worse by the various rival factions that control this city and in fact the entire country.
Add to that the element of the Islamists movement and the warlords. There's a real battle, a battle for turf, a battle for territory.
Every day on the streets of Mogadishu, dozens fall victim to clan warfare.
Abdul Yussef, 21, doesn't think he'll be around long enough to see peace come to his homeland. He said, "I am very skeptical about those who say reconciliation can happen. I know it will never happen in my lifetime."
Somalis like to say that when everything else fails or falls apart, they turn back to the clan.
"The clan is everything to us," said one Muslim woman. "It provides us the stability we so desperately need."
But others say their nation is being held hostage by the gun and warlords
Mohammad Farah runs a small meat shop on the south-side of Mogadishu. He insists that unless the warlords start talking to each other, there's little chance that any government can succeed.
Farah said, "The warlords need to come together and discuss how best to serve the people's interests and not their own."
It's been more than a month since Somali government forces and their Ethiopian allies pulled off a stunning military victory over the Islamist group that controlled much of southern Somalia.
But now a new battle is brewing between the warlords, government forces, Ethiopians soldiers, and the Islamists. Deep alliances are already forming that could fuel the growing insecurity.
"I'm putting my trust in the transitional government. I think they can finally bring an end to all this violence," said Mohammed Hassan.
"The Ethiopian soldiers need to leave," said Hassan Ali, Islamic supporter. "The Islamists are the real power base. They need to re-take this country."
Analysts fear there's a real possibility that Somalia could become a major recruiting and training field for international terrorism. The Islamists have pledged to wage an Iraq-style insurgency against government and Ethiopian forces.
African leaders are scrambling to find sufficient troops for a peacekeeping force.
But one of Somalia's top Islamic leaders warned over the weekend that sending peacekeepers to his country will only make the situation worse.
Source: CBNNews, Feb 05, 2007