ASSOCIATED PRESS
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Advancing ever closer to Somalia’s beleaguered capital, heavily armed militants declared Thursday that they will use strict Muslim rules to bring their lawless country back under control.
The latest conquest by the Muslim militants came late Wednesday in Elasha, just 10 miles from the capital of Mogadishu.
The insurgents now control most of southern and central Somalia, with the crucial exceptions of Mogadishu and the city of Baidoa, where the parliament for Somalia’s weak, U.N.-backed government sits.
Further complicating the situation, [the Woyanne regime in] Ethiopia, which has backed Somalia’s government in its fight against the groups, has pulled back from some positions as part of a peace deal with moderate Muslims.
The insurgents, who are fighting to enforce Shariah law in Somalia, are not a homogeneous group. Elasha was seized by a group of relatively moderate fighters.
But the most militant faction, al-Shabab, which the U.S. considers a terrorist group because of its leaders’ alleged links to al Qaeda, controls the most territory.
Al-Shabab in recent weeks carried out a public execution by stoning, reportedly that of a 13-year-old gang-rape victim.
“We inform you that from today on, all areas under our control will be ruled by Islam,” al-Shabab commander Sheik Abukar told residents of Merka on Thursday, one day after seizing that town.