MOGADISHU, Somalia, June 21 (UPI) -- A top Somalian official is seeking help from the country's neighbors saying emergency military backup is needed to keep Islamist rebels in check.
Militants with ties to al-Qaida can only be repelled with help from Yemen, Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia, Parliament Speaker Sheik Aden Mohamed Nur Madobe said Saturday.
In two days of heavy fighting, the militants established strongholds in north Mogadishu, forcing thousands of people to flee neighborhoods that once provided refuge from violence in other parts of the capital city, Voice of America reported Sunday.
In separate attacks last week, rebels killed Omar Hashi Aden, Somalia's security minister, and Mohammed Hussein Adow, a prominent lawmaker, VOA reported.
Kenya said it was considering sending troops to Somalia but had taken no action as of Sunday.
"We will not sit back and watch the situation in Somalia deteriorate
beyond where it is," Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula said Friday. "We have a duty -- a constitutional duty as a country and as a government -- to protect our strategic interests including our security."
