Warlord vows to keep fighting Islamic militia

MOGADISHU, Somalia – One of the secular warlords who lost control of Somalia’s capital to an Islamic militia vowed Sunday that the battle for Mogadishu was not over – an ominous warning for a city devastated by years of bloodshed and anarchy.

However, it was unclear how many fighters and weapons the defeated alliance had, and many of the U.S.-backed warlords remain in hiding.

The threat came a day after Islamic fighters stopped showings of the World Cup soccer tournament, one of the first signs that the fundamentalist force now controlling nearly all of southern Somalia could install strict Islamic rule.

Muse Sudi Yalahow said his group of secular warlords is regrouping to fight the Islamic militia, whom he accused of having ties to al-Qaida. U.S. officials have said they supported the warlords’ fight against Islamic leaders sheltering three al-Qaida leaders indicted in the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

“The alliance will continue fighting until we win the war on terror. We will hand down the terrorists linked to al-Qaida,” Yalahow said. “We will never surrender our arms.”

Questions about the secular alliance remain. Many members are in hiding after weeks of fighting with the Islamic militia killed at least 330 people, many of them civilians. Its leader was believed to be in Ethiopia seeking reinforcements.

Two people were wounded Saturday as the militia, which is controlled by a group of religious court leaders, broke up World Cup viewing parties by firing into the air and cutting electricity to theaters. The vice chairman of the Islamic Courts Union, Sheikh Abdukadir Ali Omar, said that was a way to prevent “corrupting the children in this Muslim community.”