Hard-line Islamic fighters of 'Hizbul Islam' train with automatic weapons during a drill near Somalia's volatile capital Mogadishu
MOGADISHU (Agencies)
The United States is sending weapons to Somalia's government to thwart Islamist insurgents, who reportedly chopped off the hands and feet of thieves and paraded the severed limbs in the streets of Mogadishu, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.
While the United Nations has had a long-standing arms embargo on Somalia, a May Security Council resolution urged member states to train and equip government security forces -as long as a U.N. embargo monitoring committee had no objections.
" The prospect of the government collapsing is sending alarm bells ringing in Western capitals, but whether this latest move will succeed remains to be seen "
Rashid Abdi, analyst at International Crisis Group"It's confirmed. They received approval from the U.N. Security Council," an international security source said.
Another foreign security source said weapons had come into Somalia for the government via Uganda, which provides half the 4,300 African Union troops protecting key sites in Mogadishu.
"The prospect of the government collapsing is sending alarm bells ringing in Western capitals, but whether this latest move will succeed remains to be seen," said Rashid Abdi, analyst at International Crisis Group.
"Going further than providing arms to actually sending in more foreign forces would be a mistake," he said. "The government would then play right into the hands of the militants, who would accuse them of accepting foreign meddling."
Shabab leader Sheik Hasan Dahir AweysSomalia's al-Shabaab insurgents are seen as a proxy for al-Qaeda and Western nations fear they could destabilize the region and provide safe havens for hard-line Islamists from abroad.
When a moderate Islamist was elected president in January, there was hope he could end nearly two decades of bloodshed in Somalia by reconciling with hardliners who want to impose a strict version of Islamic law across the country.
But Osama bin Laden declared President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed an enemy in an audio tape released in March. He called on the insurgents to topple the government and for Muslims around the world to join their jihad.
Limbs on trees
" Before the sentence was carried out, medics checked their health, we wanted to avoid anything that could put their lives at risk "
Unnamed Shabab officialMeanwhile hooded Islamist militiamen chopped off the right hand and left foot of four thieves in front of a crowd of 200 people in Mogadishu.
An ad-hoc court set up by Shabab had this week found the four young men guilty of stealing mobile phones and guns from residents in the Somali capital.
"The amputations have been carried out as scheduled," a Shabab official told AFP on condition of anonymity. "According to Islam, anybody who robs people will face a similar punishment."
Residents in the Sukahola neighborhood gathered to watch the amputations, but no cameras nor mobile phones were allowed.
Two hooded men watched by masked Shabab gunmen carried out the amputations with a traditional Somali curved-blade knife known as a "torey" after applying tourniquets on the accuser's forearms and legs.
"Before the sentence was carried out, medics checked their health, we wanted to avoid anything that could put their lives at risk," the Shabab official said.
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