Mogadishu (Somalia), SVM News, 27 January, 2007: Christians in Somalia remained on edge and five were killed and at least four injured in clashes at Darmoley 6 miles north of seaside in Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia on Friday, the 26th of January.
Attackers fired four mortar bombs at an Ethiopian camp near Mogadishu overnight, in the latest attack on the newly victorious government’s strongest allies. Three dead bodies were seen with gunshot wounds lying in waste ground and two more bodies elsewhere in the city.
Police Commissioner Ali Mohamed Hassan Loyan said the attackers were “hell-bent on undermining the security of the country. The police will track them down.” Another government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari told that there were not enough police officers to cover Mogadishu.
Insecurity, including attacks against Christians, increased in and around the capital since the ousting of Islamists last month.
Friday’s violence came after human rights investigators confirmed that a Muslim gunman opened fire on Somali house church where Christians were worshipping, seriously injuring the church leader on January 2 in the Southern town of Tayeglow, 200 miles from Mogadishu.
The leader of the house church was reportedly hit by gunfire several times and assumed dead for about an hour before he regained consciousness. He is currently seeking medical care and his status is critical. The gunman is reportedly still threatening other Christians in the surrounding area.
The attack to recent clashes when Ethiopian troops assisted the provisional Somali government in pushing back the powerful Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) which had taken over and imposed Sharia, or Islamic law, in much of Southern Somalia.
The desire to oppress Christianity existed long before Ethiopia put pressure on Somalia, and this house church attack is a red flag for an increase in violence and persecution for Christian believers in the Horn of Africa.
Ethiopia and Somalia have been engaged in two other wars in the past. For many Somalis, Ethiopia is the enemy and because most Somalis are Muslim, and Ethiopia is considered Christian, Somalis view Christians as enemies also.
Although the SICC is not currently in power, Christian observers say the combination of fresh “anti-Ethiopian sentiment” and the last ten years of civil and governmental chaos will likely worsen the situation for Somali Christians.
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Pastor Paul Ciniraj, Director,
Salem Voice Ministries,
Devalokam, Kottayam,
Kerala-686038, India.
