America opens a new front in its Holy War: Africa

The US-led ‘War on Terror’ has officially extended its scope to east African territory. But will this make the world a safer place or merely stoke the flames of Islamic extremism?

Craig Fitzsimons, 06 Feb 2007

For some time now, close observers of Somali affairs have been attempting to draw attention to American involvement in illegal mercenary operations, and warning of possible military intervention. These fears were dramatically borne out on January 11 and 12, when US armed forces conducted air-strikes on Somalia, in the wild countryside surrounding Ras Kamboni.

According to the State Department, the target was ‘a terrorist cell’ allegedly responsible for bombing US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. However, Oxfam reports that 70 nomadic herdsmen were killed in the air strikes, with a further 100 wounded, none of them combatants. The air strikes were widely reported by Western news networks, but there was no reference to any civilian casualties.

The bombings appear to have been motivated by a desire to prevent radical Islamists from gaining power. Since the outbreak of civil war in 1991, Somalia has lacked any recognised central government, or indeed any of the other features associated with a sovereign independent state. The northern portion of the country declared independence as Somaliland in 1991; it has yet to be recognised by any foreign government. Another region, Puntland in the north-east, seceded in 1998. The remainder of the national territory has, since May 2006, been subject to a vicious civil war between the Ethiopian-backed regime of President Abdullahi Yusuf, and a radical Muslim militia named the Supreme Islamic Courts Council.

Last June 5, the Islamists took control of the capital Mogadishu, promising to unite the country and institute Shari’a law. They established control over much of southern Somalia (generally through negotiation with local clan chiefs, rather than the use of force) and accused the US of funding the Yusuf regime through the CIA in an attempt to preclude Islamists from power. The US State Department has not confirmed or denied the accusation.

The Islamists also claim that neighbouring Ethiopia, which has an extensive history of recurring war with Somalia, seeks to either occupy the country or rule it by proxy. On October 9 of last year, the Islamist miilitia issued a jihad (holy war) against Ethiopia. Their leader, Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, proclaimed “Somalia is in a state of war, and all Somalis should take part in this struggle against Ethiopia.”

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Craig Fitzsimons

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