[Beirut Daily Star: Region] Somalia's President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmad condemned Monday what he termed as an invasion by foreign fighters as rebels battle to oust him in weeks of clashes that have killed more than 200 people. The latest round of violence erupted on May 7 when hardline Islamist insurgents launched an offensive against government troops, wounding hundreds and forcing tens of thousands of others to flee. "Somalia is being invaded by foreign fighters, whose main purpose is to turn the country into an Afghanistan or an Iraq," Sharif said at a news conference in his office. "We call on the international community and the Somali people to help us in fighting against them," he added.According to Somali security officials and foreign intelligence sources in the region, there are up to 500 foreign fighters in the troubled country, most of whom arrived over the past few months. The rebels themselves have admitted to receiving the support of foreign fighters believed to be from Arab, Asian as well as European countries in their latest offensive against Sharif's fledgling administration.
At least 208 people have been killed and 700 wounded by the fighting, Humanitarian Affairs Minister Mohamoud Ibrahim Garweyne said Sunday.
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The rebel push is spearheaded by two armed groups: Al-Shabaab, a hardline military movement with suspected links to Al-Qaeda, and Hizb al-Islamiya, a more political group loyal to influential cleric Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys.
Al-Shabaab, the former youth wing of an Islamist movement ousted by Ethiopia-backed Somali government forces in 2007, also claimed Sunday's car bomb at a military camp in the violence-wracked city.
"The attack was carried out by one of our young fighters who detonated his car inside the camp where the enemies of Allah are stationed," Sheikh Hussein Fidow, one of the group's officials, told reporters.