Ethiopian warplanes bomb Somalian jihadis

posted at 3:03 pm on December 24, 2006 by Allahpundit
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The jihadis seized Mogadishu earlier this year and have been trying to conquer the rest of the country ever since. In one town under their control, you either pray five times a day or get your head cut off. Their Christian neighbor to the west is justifiably alarmed, particularly in light of the support Somali separatists inside Ethiopia are allegedly getting from the new regime.

So today they bombed a recruiting station and supply routes in the northern town of Beledweyne.

You will, it’s safe to say, be seeing more on this subject next year.

Though western diplomats had been urging Ethiopia to use restraint, Ethiopia’s attacks today did not come as a surprise. The question now seems to be if Ethiopia will go into Mogadishu and try to finish off the Islamist military, which many fear could spur a long and ugly insurgency, or simply deal them enough of a blow to force them back to the negotiating table with the transitional government. Ethiopia’s prime minister recently told American officials that he could wipe out the Islamists “in one to two weeks.”

What complicates the issue is the presence of other foreign troops inside Somalia and the rising potential for Somalia’s neighbors to be dragged in. United Nations officials estimate that there are several thousand soldiers from Eritrea, Ethiopia’s arch-enemy, fighting for the Islamists, along with a growing number of Muslim mercenaries from Yemen, Egypt, Syria and Libya who want to turn Somalia into the third front of jihad, after Iraq and Afghanistan. On Friday, residents of Mogadishu said they saw boatloads of armed men landing on the city’s beaches.

The jihadis have already called for Muslims to come join the war.

Here’s a map of the region. Note who Ethiopia’s neighbor to the west is. Oy.

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