From: Yemane Natnael (yemane_natnael@yahoo.com)
Date: Sat Jul 19 2008 - 13:46:23 EDT
(Press TV) 128 slain in Somalia clashes
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:00:15
Clashes
between the Somali fighters and the government soldiers have left 128
people dead in separate parts of the violence-hit country.
The Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) fighters' confrontation with the
government troops in the country's capital, Mogadishu left 23 troops
and 18 civilians dead.
The soldiers were killed after the fighters raided their barracks
in Yashiid and Suuqa Holaha areas north of Mogadishu and forced the
troops to lay down their arms before breaking into a gallop. 50
soldiers sustained injuries during the standoff, a Press TV
correspondent reported.
The Somali military's Ethiopian allies, meanwhile, responded the
fighter's barrage of shots with artillery fire that took the lives of
18 civilians injuring 67 others among them. Having lost more than 60
soldiers and their control over their base in the Arafat area to the
fighters' sustained attack, The Ethiopians retreated to the Mogadishu
stadium while keeping the districts of Suuqa Holha, Godey, Wahar Adde
and Huriwa under their fire. One woman and her two daughters were also
killed having been targeted with the Ethiopians' rounds of ammunition.
The south-central city of Baidoa's Bay and Bakool districts were
also reported to have been site of a pitched battle between Al-Shabaab
fighters and government troops that left 15 soldiers and 9 civilians
dead. Locals, in their hundreds as well as the city's parliamentarians
began fleeing the area after the clash started.
Despite their popular support, the fighters were removed in 2006
following the onrush of the Ethiopian-backed Somali troops. Violence
has ever since taken its toll on the capital and forced around 70, 000
people out of the capital.
Reports say the country's President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed relies
heavily on the Western support to crack down on the fighters whenever
he finds himself in a compromising position.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=64017§ionid=351020501
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