From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Wed Sep 10 2008 - 13:11:04 EDT
Fighting in Somali capital kills 9
September 10, 2008
MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Heavy fighting between Ethiopian troops and
Islamist-led insurgents killed at least nine Somalis in the capital of
Mogadishu on Wednesday, witnesses said.
The fighting followed vows by the strengthening Islamist movement to
intensify attacks over the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
Residents said nearly 100 heavily armed insurgents shouting "God is
great" launched an attack on a base for Ethiopian and Somali government
troops in the northeastern Mogadishu neighborhood of Huriwaa, prompting
fierce gun battles and an exchange of mortar rounds.
Somali officials routinely target the area, accusing residents of
supporting insurgents.
Resident Abdiwali Mohamud said he saw four civilians killed in the
crossfire during the two-hour battle, which began shortly after midday.
Another resident, Abdinur Sheikh, said he saw two government soldiers
and three insurgents lying dead in the middle of the road.
Nine people were also reported wounded.
Kiosk owner Salado Mahad said Ethiopian troops fired into a butcher's
shop in Huriwaa Market, wounding five men and two women.
In the northern Yaqshid neighborhood, two mortar rounds slammed into
residents' homes. "The first one injured no one, but the second one
wounded a mother and her 15 year-old son," said resident Mohamed Abdulle
Warsame.
Also on Wednesday, the Islamic militia Al-Shabab posted a statement on
an Islamic Web site, Almujaahid, claiming responsibility for Tuesday's
fatal shooting of Somali member of parliament Mohamed Osman Maye in
Baidoa, where the Somali parliament sits.
Analysts say the Islamist movement appears to be regaining its strength
after Ethiopian troops supporting the shaky transitional government
chased them from power in December 2006. The Islamists, who had taken
control of the capital and much of the south, launched an Iraq-style
insurgency.
Earlier this year, they launched a series of hit-and-run raids on dozens
of Somali towns. Last month, they captured Kismayo, Somalia's
third-largest city, the largest they have held since 2007.
Humanitarian agency Doctors Without Borders announced Wednesday the
bodies of 29 refugees had washed up on Yemen's shores as increasing
numbers of people flee the violence in Somalia.
The U.N.-backed Somali government has been riven by infighting and has
failed to deliver security or services to its impoverished people.
Somalia has been at war since clan-based militias ousted a socialist
dictator in 1991, then fought each other for power. The conflict is
complicated by clan loyalties, criminal gangs and the involvement of
archenemies Eritrea and Ethiopia, who back opposite sides in the
fighting.
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