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Comoros claims regaining control of rebel-held island
The Indian Ocean archipelago nation of Comoros said it seized control of the rebel island of Anjouan yesterday after a seaborne assault backed by the African Union (AU).
- Reuters
- Published: 00:06 March 26, 2008
Moroni: The Indian Ocean archipelago nation of Comoros said it seized control of the rebel island of Anjouan yesterday after a seaborne assault backed by the African Union (AU).
"Anjouan island is under total control of the army," Major Ahmad Sidi told reporters at a joint press conference with the AU on the neighbouring island of Moheli.
"So far we have no dead or wounded to lament. The rebel chiefs have all run away, and none has yet been found."
Earlier, a presidential official said the Comoros army, along with about 400 AU troops, had taken part in a "first wave" of assaults on Anjouan, one of the three islands in the coup-prone archipelago that won independence from France in 1975.
With 1,350 AU troops in support, the national government aimed to quickly topple Anjouan's local leader, French-trained former gendarme Mohammad Bacar, who clung to power in an illegal election last year and commands a militia of several hundred.
Easy victory hope
There was no news of the whereabouts of Bacar and with phone lines cut, there was no independent confirmation of the progress by the Comoros forces on the ground.
Analysts say the AU is hoping to score a relatively easy victory in Anjouan - whose population is just 300,000 - to earn some international prestige to offset the struggles of its peacekeeping missions in Sudan and Somalia.
Lying off Africa's east coast, the Comoros islands - which grow vanilla, cloves and ylang-ylang, a flower whose oil is used in aromatherapy - were first settled by Arab seafarers 1,000 years ago, then later became a pirate haven.
A Comoros government spokesman said troops quickly occupied the capital Mutsamudu and two other towns after arriving by boat at dawn.
A statement said there was "a brief clash" in Ouani, while Mutsamudu fell "after a short exchange of fire". In Domoni, "there are scenes of fraternisation between the population and the Sudanese troops", it added.
Government spokesman Bacar said troops were at the door of the Anjouan leader's village home in Barakani near the capital.
"Some of the soldiers have been given orders to look for him," he said. "[But] we know that during these past months he didn't sleep in his home. He was afraid." Anjouan inhabitants could hear gunfire and explosions from early morning, said Aboulatuf Mohamad, a former resident speaking to people there by satellite phone.
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