Somali gunmen attacked an oil tanker truck near Mogadishu today, wounding three people and raising fears of a return to the clan violence that had largely stopped during six months of Islamist rule.
The Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC), which had imposed sharia law across much of the south, abandoned the capital last week to government troops backed by Ethiopian forces.
Within hours of the Islamists' departure, militiamen loyal to warlords ousted in June reappeared at checkpoints in the city where they used to rob, rape and murder civilians.
"The militias fired three RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades). One of them hit us," the truck driver, who gave his name as Tusbah, told Reuters at the scene, where the charred wreckage of his vehicle lay strewn across a sandy road. "They were bandits who wanted money."
Dozens of passengers riding on top of the truck fled as the gunmen fired automatic rifles before launching grenades. The rapid return of warlords showed how easily Mogadishu could slide back into anarchy. The attack in Galgalato, 25 km (15 miles) north of the city centre, came on the last day of a three-day government ultimatum for Mogadishu residents and militia to turn in their guns. Few have been turned in.
"I have an AK-47 (Kalashnikov rifle) and a pistol in my house. I will not surrender them because I do not see any trustworthy person to give them to," said one resident, who declined to be named. "People have started burying their weapons. Others have transported their heavy weapons outside Mogadishu."
Deputy Defence Minister Salad Ali Jelle said forcible disarmament would begin at the weekend.