NAIROBI: Muslim militias captured Mogadishu — an anarchic city no single group could control for 15 years — because of superior training, popular support and religious motivation, experts said on Wednesday.

The Muslim fighters, who fought an alliance of warlords widely believed to have been funded as part of the United States’ counter-terrorism war, were also getting external assistance, according to a UN report.

The militia transformed the face of warfare on Mogadishu’s battle-scarred streets, shifting away from the traditional haphazard, frenzied attacks made famous by the book and movie “Black Hawk Down”.

“Increased military-style tactical training, massive popular support and the strength of commitment of ideological motivation — as opposed to mercenary motivation — means the Islamists were motivated to continue in the face of adversity,” said a former military official who follows Somalia closely but declined to speak on the record.

In a typical fight in the anarchic capital, poorly-trained and paid gunmen clattered into battle en masse on the back of “technicals” and blasted wildly with mortars, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

But on several occasions over the three-month battle for the Somali capital, the Islamic side carried out night commando raids, attacked before dawn or fought through the night — all rare tactics in Somalia, residents and experts said.

“If you’ve got military leaders, you can do that. The warlords are living in medieval times,” said a Western diplomat who follows Somalia but whose job does not permit him to be quoted by name.

The improved tactics may be explained by the presence of former military men in the top ranks of the Islamic side, chief among them Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, an ex-army colonel decorated for bravery during war with Ethiopia in 1977.

A May UN report on violations of a 1992 Security Council arms embargo on Somalia said Aweys had set up military training programmes for his militia since early 2005.—Reuters