From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Wed Apr 28 2010 - 07:22:41 EDT
Violence in Somali capital kills at least 16
Wed Apr 28, 2010 6:27am GMT
By Ibrahim Mohamed and Abdi Guled
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A landmine killed one person and wounded eight in a
rare attack on a mosque in the Somali capital on Tuesday, a day of chaotic
violence that left at least another 15 people dead and scores wounded.
Witnesses said the mine exploded as worshippers were going to the Abu
Hureyra mosque in Bakara Market, an area used as a base by rebels fighting
the government and African Union (AU) peackeeping troops in Somalia.
Residents said nine people died when mortar shells hit a house in the south
of the city, two rebels and a government soldier were killed in fighting
near Bakara Market and two AU soldiers were wounded when they stopped a
suicide bomber from ramming a truck laden with explosives into their base.
"We have received 57 injured people today. Three of them died in the
hospital," Mohamed Yusuf, director of the Madina Hospital, told Reuters.
Insurgents have been fighting the Western-backed government in the Horn of
Africa nation since the start of 2007. The rebel groups now control much of
southern and central Somalia while the government is hemmed into a few
blocks of the capital.
At least 21,000 civilians have been killed since the start of the
insurgency. Aid agencies and rights groups have become increasingly
concerned about indiscriminate shelling and some have accused combatants on
all sides of war crimes.
An African Union peacekeeping force made up of soldiers from Uganda and
Burundi is propping up the government in Mogadishu, and guarding key sites
such as the airport and seaport.
SUICIDE BOMBING
The International Committee of the Red Cross said last week that the two
hospitals it supports in Mogadishu had received 1,900 patients with weapon
wounds between January and mid-April, and hundreds had been killed as result
of the fighting.
It was not clear who was behind the mosque explosion, though residents
suspected it might have been infighting between the two insurgent groups
that dominate the Bakara Market.
"We hear about explosions at mosques in Iraq, so this is an amazing thing to
happen in Somalia," witness Abdallahi said.
Hizbul Islam and al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab are the two main rebel groups in
Somalia. While the two frequently clash in the south of the country for
control of strategic towns, they are usually on the same side against the
government in the capital.
"They claim to be religious. But clerics don't behead, kill and detonate
people," said Mogadishu resident Mohamed. "It really is terrible, this could
stop people going to mosques."
Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for a suicide car bombing on Tuesday that
targeted a new AU base set up last week in the Shangani area of the capital,
north of the presidential palace.
Major Barigye Ba-hoku, spokesman for the AU force, said the vehicle was
blown up before it could ram into the new base, which is manned by Ugandan
soldiers.
"We have foiled the attempt, we have destroyed the would-be suicide car
bomb. Two of our soldiers who destroyed the car sustained minor injuries,"
he told Reuters.
C Thomson Reuters 2010 All rights reserved
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----