Somali troops and allied Ethiopian soldiers expanded their house-to-house search for weapons on Sunday as this country’s fledgling government struggles to assert authority over a nation that has known little but clan warfare and chaos for 15 years.Government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said the search was taking place in several neighbourhoods but he refused to comment on the number of weapons seized, saying it was a military secret. On Saturday, troops were searching homes near Mogadishu’s main airport.“The government’s plan of disarmament is a way to stabilise the country,” said Dinari. The plan to rid Mogadishu of weapons is fraught in this capital, which is awash in guns after more than a decade of anarchy. Hassan Mohamoud said troops entered his house early Sunday and took his Kalashnikov assault rifle.“I bought the gun about 10 years ago in order to safeguard myself and my family. I never used the gun for violent purposes such as fighting and robbery,” he said. “But now I am worrying if the government will take the responsibility of our safety.”On Saturday, Somalia’s acting parliament voted to allow the UN-backed government to impose martial law for up to three months in this Horn of Africa nation of 7 million people, deputy parliament speaker Osman Ilmi Boqore said during a legislative session broadcast live on a state-owned radio station.A few hours later, Ethiopian jets reportedly bombed at least one village in the south, killing three people, a traditional elder reported.Abdi Rashid Sheikh Ahmed said from Af Madow that residents of the village of Bankajiiro came to his town with the bodies of three relatives they said died in the air strike.Lawmaker Abdulrashid Hidig, speaking from Kismayo, and Dinari, the government spokesman, said they had heard reports of air strikes but did not have any details. Boqore said 154 legislators voted in favour of letting the government impose martial law. He said two lawmakers voted against the motion.The remainder of Somalia’s 275 lawmakers were not present at the session in Baidoa, a western town that had been the two-year-old government’s stronghold until the Islamic militia was routed in an offensive that began December 24.-MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN
