The ongoing conflict in Somalia between government forces and al-Qaida linked militants is "appalling," a U.S. senator told President Barack Obama.
More than 25 people were dead and another 60 were wounded in clashes between Somali troops and fighters with the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabaab movement last week
Al-Shabaab forces have been pushing forward across northern parts of Mogadishu for weeks. In late May, they took positions close to the presidential palace and shelled the compound.
The airport, seaport and other government installations were also hit.
U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., expressed his concern over Somalia in a letter to Obama.
"To put it frankly, the situation is appalling," the letter read.
Feingold said figures since 2007 put the death toll at more than 21,000 people. More than 1.5 million were displaced by the violence, he added.
Authorities this week arrested two New Jersey men for allegedly conspiring to join al-Shabaab, which is allegedly working with Yemeni terror groups. Feingold, who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, said the al-Qaida support and possible expansion in the Horn of Africa was cause for renewed concern.
"Achieving stability and restoring the rule of law in Somalia will not be easy or quick -- nearly two decades of dysfunction have made sure of that -- but we must have a strategy in place if we are to proceed," he said.
Source: UPI
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