Somali fighters seize southern town
ICC Note
The Islamists that seized the Southern town of Jilib are fighting for formation of Islamic State where Sharia law is going to be the law of the land.
05/17/2008 Somalia (Al Jazeera) – Fighters reportedly affiliated with the Islamic Courts’ Union have taken control of the southern Somali city of Jilib after clashing with a government-backed militia group.
A rights activist said that hundreds of people fled the town, 500km south of capital Mogadishu , after the fighting.
Ali Bashi, of the Fanole rights group, said: “These people already had fled from fighting in Mogadishu and today again were forced to flee because they fear more violence.”
The attack underscored the transitional government’s vulnerabilities as UN-sponsored peace talks stalled in neighbouring Djibouti .
Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991, when regional commanders ousted Mohammed Siad Barre, the then president, from power and then turned on one another.
The transitional government has struggled to defeat remnant Islamic Courts’ Union fighters after the Ethiopian army wrested control of Mogadishu from the group in December 2006.
Peace talks
