Mogadishu — Somalia's treacherous political landscape is reinventing itself following the surprise resignation of Abdullahi Yusuf as president of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), after four years in power that fueled the rise of an Islamist phenomenon.

On Monday, the official spokesman for the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) heatedly defended a move by ICU fighters who seized three police stations in the capital Mogadishu last week.

"The people who say 'you cannot do this,' we say that we are restoring security at these [Mogadishu] locations," said Abdirahim Isse Addow, the ICU spokesman.

His comments were in response to growing criticism from different corners to the ICU's unilateral move to seize control of police stations vacated by Ethiopian soldiers, who have already begun their withdrawal from Mogadishu.

It is part of the dreaded mayhem that many people fear will engulf Mogadishu and plunge Somalia deeper into chaos once Ethiopian troops withdraw, with an all-out war over the country's remaining resources among rival Islamist and clan factions.

Police objection

Gen. Abdi Qeybdiid, the TFG national police commander, has denounced the ICU's takeover of police stations in Huriwa, Howlwadaag and Hodan districts. READ: Somalia's police chief denounces Islamist security role

His opposition to the ICU move is reflective of a wider and deeper conundrum in a country that has seen little respite from lawlessness and drought for nearly 18 years.

The TFG and an ICU-led political entity, the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), inked a peace agreement that included the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops and the implementation of a joint security initiative.

As part of the process, Qeybdiid was among TFG and ARS officials who formed the core of the Joint Security Committee, which was tasked with establishing a coherent security strategy following Ethiopian pullout under the terms of the Djibouti Agreement.

But Qeybdiid's objection - and the ICU's bold move - throws into question if the two sides formalized security arrangements to the minute details, as is necessary in a dangerous city like Mogadishu.

Separately, Ali "Dheere" Mohamed, chairman of a local business association, told a Mogadishu-based radio station that the ICU "should remove" its fighters from Hodan and Howlwadaag stations near Bakara Market and allow business leaders to keep their private security.

Al Shabaab warning

Somalia's feared militants, Al Shabaab, have issued direct statements regarding the ICU takeover of police posts.

Sheikh Muktar Robow "Abu Mansur," the Al Shabaab spokesman, told a press conference in Bay region Monday that there is "no need" to seize police stations and urged the continuation of the "jihad" against foreign troops.

"I warn the Mujahideen against violence among each other, which makes the enemy happy," Abu Mansur said, adding: "There is no need to waste time by capturing police stations."

He vowed that Al Shabaab will continue the war against foreign troops on Somali soil, including African Union peacekeepers, while claiming that ICU fighters recently joined Al Shabaab.

But Addow, the ICU spokesman, rejected Abu Mansur's claim and warned him about "lies and fabrication," saying: "Did you ask yourselves who was it that captured regions with local administrations [present]?"

Political insiders say the latter remark is aimed at Al Shabaab, which seized the regions of Lower Shabelle and Galgadud in recent months. Both regions were under the control of ICU-associated clans.

Infighting expected

Somalia's intricate political troubles have changed over time, at times getting much worse and at times offering surprising bouts of hope in a land - and a people - scarred by war and despair.

Old allies and new enemies - or old enemies and new allies - continue to sift through the Horn of Africa country's politics, keeping Somalia locked in a perpetual state of civil war and profiting a war industry in neighboring countries.

A new round of fighting is expected to erupt in Mogadishu among rival factions, some re-armed by Ethiopia, in a new scheme to keep Islamist hardliners embroiled in an endless domestic conflict.

Already, the new war has emerged with violence reported in erstwhile quiet Galgadud, a region in central Somalia.

Various sources have confirmed that Ethiopian-backed clan militias are battling for control of the region against Al Shabaab, fighting under the banner of a Sufi group.

Ethiopia's new strategy to use clan militia against a divided and fractured Islamist movement in Somalia will ignite a new war, reopening clan hostilities and denying Somalis another chance at stability.