Somalian legislators urge neighbouring states to send troops
Last Updated: Saturday, June 20, 2009 | 9:55 AM ET
CBC News
Legislators in Somalia have passed a resolution calling on the African country's neighbours to immediately send troops to fight Islamist forces, the parliamentary Speaker said Saturday.
People rush a wounded civilian to hospital during fighting between Islamist militants and goverment forces in the Somalian capital, Mogadishu, on Saturday. (Associated Press) Sheikh Aden Mohammed Nur said the resolution calls for foreign troops to be dispatched within 24 hours.
He included Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Yemen in the request, according to Agence France-Presse.
Nur also said a Pakistani al-Qaeda commander is leading the latest anti-government military campaign.
The resolution was passed Saturday, a day after heavy fighting north of the capital, Mogadishu. At least 10 people were killed during running battles between Islamist fighters and forces backing the transitional government, witnesses said.
MP Mohammed Hussein Addow was reported among the dead on Friday. Local officials said he was taken from his house and shot as members of the militant group al-Shabab attacked the district of Karan.
On Thursday, militants killed Security Minister Omar Hashi Aden and at least 30 other people in a suicide car-bomb attack on a hotel in Beletweyne, northwest of the capital.
Al-Shabab, along with the militant group Hisbul Islam, has vowed to topple the UN-backed government of President Sharif Ahmed.
Somalia has been without an effective government since 1991 when warlords overthrew President Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each other.
There is already an African Union force in Mogadishu, but its mandate is restricted to guarding key government officials and installations.
With files from The Associated Press
