VZCZCXRO2200
OO RUEHDE RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHNR #0363 0561455
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 251455Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8598
INFO RUCNSOM/SOMALIA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 3085
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 2122
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHMFIUU/CJTF HOA
RUZEFAA/CDR USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RUZEFAA/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS NAIROBI 000363 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR AF/E 
LONDON AND BRUSSELS FOR ACTING A/S CARTER 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM EAID PTER SO
 
SUBJECT:  SOMALIA - TFG AND ISLAMISTS CLASH IN MOGADISHU 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  In the fiercest fighting in Mogadishu since 
Ethiopian troops' January departure, Hisbul Islam, a recently-formed 
alliance of Islamic militias, clashed with Transitional Federal 
Government (TFG) forces in western Mogadishu on February 24 and 
briefly in the morning on February 25.  The violence, which ended in 
stalemate, was likely over publicly popular TFG efforts to remove 
illegal roadblocks, a source of extorted revenue for neighborhood 
clans.  Dozens of people were killed and wounded, reportedly mostly 
civilian.  At one point AMISOM forces joined the fight after taking 
mortar fire, but they were not the Islamists' main targets.  End 
Summary. 
 
Outbreak of Fighting 
-------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) On February 24 and 25, the extremist group "Hisbul Islam" - 
a recent alliance of Islamist militia - and TFG police based at 
Tribunka Square in the KM4 neighborhood, clashed in the southern 
Hodan district of Mogadishu.  It was the city's heaviest fighting 
since Ethiopian troops left Mogadishu in early January.  An 
estimated 20 people, most of whom were reported to be civilians, 
were killed and 90 wounded, media reported.  The battle ended in a 
stalemate, our contacts in Mogadishu told us.  According to a Hisbul 
Islam (HI) spokesman, HI attacked TFG positions in response to the 
TFG joint security forces' move last week to dismantle illegal 
checkpoints.  Media and our contacts report that AMSIOM also engaged 
Hisbul Islam after AMISOM's KM4 base came under mortar attack. 
 
¶3. (SBU) TFG Police Commissioner Abdi Hassan "Qeybdiid" told us he 
lamented the high number of civilian casualties, but Islamic forces 
had attacked his police.  Lending credence to Qeybdiid's provocation 
claim, Yusuf Mohamed Siyad "Indha Adde," an extremist who in the 
past has listed himself among Hisbul Islam's leaders, publicly 
condemned HI for the attack and resigned from the group.  He called 
on Islamist fighters to honor a call by the Council of Somali 
Islamic Scholars for a 120 day ceasefire.  We subsequently heard 
from AU sources that Indha Adde may have disavowed the violence in 
response to pressure from his businessmen backers. 
 
The Public Condemns the Violence 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Mogadishu's elders, clerics, business community and public 
condemned yesterday's renewed fighting.  Hawiye elders and the 
al-Islah Islamic organization denounced the violence and called for 
peace.  Similarly, Somali artists, private Mogadishu residents, and 
clerics called radio shows to criticize the fighting.  One civil 
society member said Mogadishu residents are fed up with perpetrators 
of violence.  "Soon there will come a popular uprising against 
Hisbul Islam and other radical Islamists hell-bent on violence," he 
told us on the phone from Mogadishu. The battle took place roughly 4 
kilometers from President Sharif's offices at Villa Somalia.  He has 
not made any statements on the violence.  However, sources in the 
TFG told us that President Sharif and his Joint Security Committee 
members discussed the fighting in late night meetings.  Thirteen 
cabinet ministers and roughly 50 parliamentarians returned to 
Mogadishu before or shortly after the fighting began. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) It is likely true that the fighting resulted from TFG 
forces trying to reassert control over neighborhoods controlled by 
HI.  Indha Adde's disavowal is noteworthy: he may be trying to curry 
favor with his business supporters, with the public, or even with 
President Sharif.  This flare-up likely represents a turf battle 
between the TFG and militants in which dialogue failed.  By our 
estimation, AMISOM's brief involvement was probably incidental.  End 
Comment. 
 
RANNEBERGER