Somalia's interim government vowed yesterday to banish Moga-dishu's reputation for lawlessness to the history books as troops seized heavy weaponry in raids on suspected rebel hideouts in the capital.
While facing an uphill struggle in a country which has been a byword for anarchy, the administration of President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed is pushing to assert its authority after the sudden ouster last month of its Islamist rivals.
A day after parliament approved the imposition of martial law, Somali government fighters backed by Ethiopian soldiers carried out a series of raids in the southern Mogadishu stronghold of the vanquished Islamist movement.
Announcing the seizure of rocket-propelled grenade launchers, heavy machineguns and AK-47 rifles during the raids, a spokesman for the government said the rule of law would prevail in the future.
"This city will not be a hideout for freelance gunmen. The days of terrorizing people are over," Abdirahman Dinari said.
"The government is determined to enhance security in Mogadishu and the safety of our people is a priority," he said.
Somalia has been devoid of an effective central authority since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
Yusuf's government was formed in Kenya in 2004 and returned to Somalia the following yea. Unable to go to Mogadishu, it had to set up in Baidoa, some 250km northwest of the capital.
After years of clashes between rival warlords, an Islamist coalition took control of Mogadishu last June. But while they managed to restore a degree of order, they suddenly fled last month after Ethiopia linked up with the transitional government and marched on the capital.
Dinari told reporters the Islamists were a spent force after they were uprooted from their final hideout in the south of the country over the weekend.
"The Islamists and their foreign fighters are currently in forests ... Ground forces supported by Ethiopians will take care of them," he added. "They are not a viable force anymore, but a bunch of fugitives."
The Islamists, accused by many of harboring al-Qaeda members, have also been the target of the US military, which carried out an air strike on southern Somalia last Monday.
Washington has denied any civilians were killed in its sole air strike, which it claims killed between eight and 10 al-Qaeda affiliates, but has admitted there may have been civilian casualties in subsequent Ethiopian raids.
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