Somali forces accused of lacking clear lines of command and control

MOGADISHU: Masked men who appeared to be members of the Somali security forces raided the house of a powerful Somali senator, but the government initially said it did not know who they were, fueling political tensions.

Sen. Abdi Hassan Awale Qaybdiid is a former militia leader, chief of police, minister and regional head. Now he heads the constitutional committee in Parliament and the upper house.

The attack on his home underscores the lack of clear lines of command and control within Somali forces as top officials ordered an urgent enquiry into who authorized the raid.

The weak, UN-backed government is fighting an Al-Qaeda linked insurgency. But the fight has been hampered by its inability to control its fledgling national security forces, largely recruited from clan militias and put through training by other nations.

“Government forces broke into my house, they beat the guard with butts and took his gun,” Qaybdiid told reporters at his home on Saturday. “They broke all the doors of my rooms and my cupboards... My wife was in the toilet by then. They broke the toilet while she was inside it.”

Somalia’s military commander, Gen. Abdiweli Jama Gorod, said he had ordered an urgent investigation.

“The entire government is disappointed. It was not something that was expected,” he said.

Witness Mohamed Nur told Reuters: “The forces that went into the senator’s house had dark greenish uniforms and masks of the same color. They were many. As they went in, six pickups blocked the nearby alleys ... there was no gunfire. The six pickups looked new but I could not make out which type of government soldiers they were.”