From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Fri Aug 21 2009 - 08:13:46 EDT
Fighting kills 22 in Somali capital Mogadishu
Fri Aug 21, 2009 11:09am GMT
By Abdi Guled
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Fighting erupted between Islamist rebels, government
forces and African Union peacekeepers in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on
Friday, killing at least 22 people, witnesses and medical staff said.
Battles broke out around the city's strategic K4 junction after the
insurgents launched a pre-dawn attack on an AU base and on government
troops. Witnesses said the clashes spread to three other districts and that
most of the dead were civilians.
The toll was expected to increase as the fighting continued. Fearful
residents cowered in their homes as mortar shells detonated around them and
bullets tore into walls.
"We have seen 17 dead people and taken 40 others to hospitals," senior
ambulance official Ali Musa told Reuters.
A business leader in Mogadishu's sprawling Bakara Market said a further five
people had died there when a mortar bomb exploded in a busy restaurant.
Western security agencies say Somalia, torn by civil war for 18 years, has
become a haven for Islamist militants plotting attacks in the Horn of Africa
and beyond.
Adding to the carnage, residents said Ethiopian troops also fought battles
on the border in Bakool region with ethnic Somali rebels from the Ogaden
National Liberation Front. Ethiopian officials could not immediately be
reached for comment.
The international community wants to bolster the U.N.-backed government of
President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, which is fighting several rebel movements,
including al Shabaab. The United States says that group is al Qaeda's proxy
in Somalia.
Battles have been taking place across central and southern regions this week
as pro-government militia try to seize towns from al Shabaab and another
insurgent group, Hizbul Islam.
At least 33 people died at Bula Burde in the southern Hiran region on
Thursday, and 12 more died when al Shabaab fighters drove pro-government
gunmen out of Bulahawa.
That was just four days after the Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca militants seized that
town from al Shabaab. Meanwhile, Hizbul Islam retook control of Luuq,
another town in the Gedo region.
On Friday, residents said Ahlu Sunna fighters seized the central town of
Mahas from al Shabaab after hours of clashes.
The rebels say Ethiopian soldiers are fighting alongside the pro-government
militiamen inside Somalia. Ethiopia denies it.
Violence has killed more than 18,000 Somalis since the start of 2007 and
driven another 1 million from their homes.
C Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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