The Ethiopian troops who helped install Somalia's fledgling government in Mogadishu, its capital, began to pull out on Tuesday, officials from each country said.
Many Somalis say they now fear that a power vacuum will form and that the country will slip back into the lawlessness that has dominated it for much of the past 16 years.
"Why can't they stay?" asked Muhammad Omar Ali, a milkman in Mogadishu, as he watched truckloads of Ethiopians chug away. "They're leaving us to the bandits."
Ethiopia played a pivotal role in rearranging Somalia's internal politics last month when it sent tanks, jet fighters and thousands of troops to vanquish an increasingly aggressive Islamist movement that ruled most of south-central Somalia.
After routing the Islamist army, the Ethiopians paved the way for Somalia's transitional government, which until then was weak and divided, to take control of the country.
But the Ethiopians always insisted that they would not stay to police Somalia.
And though several African countries have mused about sending peacekeepers to help quell Somalia's volatile mix of warring clans, well-armed thugs and now a growing insurgency, a comprehensive peacekeeping force may be months away.
On Tuesday, 200 Ethiopian soldiers held a short goodbye ceremony at a defunct Somali air force base.
"We have arrived in Mogadishu in support of the transitional federal government troops," an Ethiopian commander said.
"We have successfully completed our mission. We respect the order of the Ethiopian government to withdraw from Somalia."
Some Somalis cheered.
Others said the equivalent of good riddance.
"Our enemy is finally leaving the country," grumbled Muhammad Gedi Nur, who was selling second-hand clothes on the street.
"Now we can bring back Islamic law."
Remnants of the Islamist army are suspected of the increasingly frequent attacks on transitional government soldiers and Ethiopian troops.
Despite the limited withdrawal that began on Tuesday, Ethiopian officials have reassured Somalia's leaders that many troops would remain until international peacekeepers arrive.
Western diplomats have expressed hope that the surrender to Kenyan authorities last week of Sheik Sharif Ahmed, a moderate leader of the Islamist forces, could be another solution.
As a well-respected figure among the Islamists and the influential Hawiye clan, he could help end the insurgency.
On Tuesday US diplomats said they were eager to talk to him.
"The US ambassador to Kenya plans to meet with Sheik Sharif later this week," the embassy said. "The ambassador will urge Sheik Sharif to counsel his supporters not to carry out violence and to support the development of an inclusive government."
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS