Violence Erupts in the Southern Town of Buur-Hakaba

Two people were killed and scores of children and adults were injured on August 7, 2007 violence in the southern town of Buur-Hakaba. It has been rumored that the fighting was over land and water rights between two clans. While the details are still unavailable, one thing that is known is that the fighting is expected to escalate once the two groups regroup and recruit young and old men in their clans. This is troubling the citizens of Buur-Hakabo who are mainly agrarian and indigents.

It is important to note that the area where the current fighting is taking place was and still remains to be the satellite office of President Abdullahi Yusuf of the Transitional National Government. This is the district where he brought his army from his region and invited Ethiopian military to help him capture the district and subjugate residents in this area.

There are sufficient evidences to support that upon capturing this region, Abdullahi Yusuf and his forces took land, farms, and livestock from locals and have experienced a heavy resistance from locals, including Rahanwein Resistance Army. Therefore, it is feasible that some of the clans or groups found an opportunity to recapture their land and wells now that Ethiopian and Abdullahi Yusuf’s military are busy killing and torturing innocent Somalis in Mogadishu. The British Broadcasting Corporation reported that hundreds of people have begun to flee from the area as result of the fighting http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4592953.stm.

This provides further evidence that Abdullahi Yusuf is unable to bring an end to the turmoil and anarchy in the country, even with the help of Ethiopian troops and resources from the United States and European Union. In this vein, the current reconciliation effort that the international world is concocting is loose-loose preposition. What is sorely missed is the need to have a true dialogue brokered by other than Ethiopia, US, and many EU members.