From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sun Oct 05 2008 - 15:54:02 EDT
15 civilians killed in Mogadishu clashes
Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:13:05 GMT
Fresh clashes between insurgents and Somali soldiers killed 15 civilians.
Clashes between Ethiopian soldiers and insurgents have left 15 civilians dead and 42 others injured in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
The fighting broke out in the Medina district south-west of Mogadishu, as insurgents clashed with Ethiopian soldiers near the base of the Burundian peacekeeping contingent in the capital.
At least 11 Ethiopian soldiers were also killed in the violence and another 12 injured, a Press TV correspondent in Mogadishu reported.
Ethiopian soldiers are now attacking civilians inside the Medina district, killing 15 people and wounding more than 42 others.
Heavy artillery fire destroyed tens of homes in shelters where thousands of Somalis took refuge, and the bodies of woman and children still lay in the streets, the report said.
Survivors are now fleeing the area and the wounded have been rushed to hospital but doctors report their injuries to be fatal.
A few hours earlier hundreds of Somali soldiers marched through the district, clashing with al-Shabaab fighters, the military wing of the Union of Islamic Courts. The fighters had staged 16 mortar attacks on the Mogadishu International Airport on Sunday morning.
The Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) and al-Shabaab fighters consider US-backed Ethiopian troops in Somalia to be an occupying force. They say, they will continue their fight until a full withdrawal of the enemies from Somalia.
In late 2006, Washington supported Ethiopia in a military offensive that ousted the UIC from Somalia's capital.
According to the US-based Human Rights Watch, Kenya covertly rounded up scores of people fleeing violence in the country and sent them to Somalia and then Ethiopia. The 2007 rendition program in the Horn of Africa, involved Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and the United States.
>From February to May 2007, Ethiopian security officers transported detainees - including several pregnant women - to a villa where US officials interrogated them about suspected terrorist links, the report states.
Somali president: Gov't staying put
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:09:12 GMT
Somali president rejected the calls for relocation of the government to Kenya.
The Somalian president rejects a call by the Horn of African states for transference of the country's transitional government to Kenya.
Dismissing the demand made by the nations, under the auspices of Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed rejected the suggestion as ill-advised, Press TV's correspondent in Somalia reported.
The IGAD member states' request came after the group's meeting on the matter saw Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia for the move and Sudan, Djibouti, and Eritrea against it.
We are too old for such a big move, he added talking about the request which was made based on the African Union's decision last week.
The AU decision dictated that the 275-member Somali parliament along with the president, Premier Nur Hassan Hussein and the Somalian cabinet be relocated to Kenya.
The president also suggested that it was due to manipulation on the part of the IGAD nations that his government took office in the first place.
What Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) is now in need of is more military backup in its battle against insurgency he added, saying that in case the African nations failed to provide the military aid they would have to turn to a bigger organization such as the UN.
The Transitional Federal Parliament of the Somali Republic was formed in neighboring Kenya in 2004. The interim parliament was then relocated to the Somali city of Baidoa, 260 kilometers northwest of Mogadishu, on February 26, 2006.
Somali security head killed in Baidoa
Sat, 04 Oct 2008 09:44:58 GMT
Somali insurgents have killed the head of security forces in Baidoa while the house of the country's parliament speaker has been attacked.
Ibrahim Maadey was shot dead on Saturday by armed insurgents in Bay Region in the city of Baidoa, 256 kilometers (159 miles) northwest of capital Mogadishu, Press TV correspondent reported.
Shortly after the killing, insurgents attacked the house of Somali parliament speaker Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nuur in Howlwadaag district.
At least four heavy mortars landed near the house and one inside, killing four guards in the house, while 11 civilians were severely wounded in the attack.
Baidoa has been home to Somalia's interim parliament since February 2006.
A witness to the incident told our correspondent that Mohamed Nuur was not in the house when it was attacked.
The attack comes a day after Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed rejected a call by the Horn of Africa states to transfer the country's transitional government to Kenya.
Yusuf said what the government was in need of at present was more military backup from African nations in its battle against insurgency.
Organizations such as the Arab League have reportedly refused to help Somalia's transitional government, saying the government, which is backed by Ethiopian forces, is responsible for the death of thousands of civilians in the violence-ridden country.
Yusuf has said in case the African nations fail to provide the military aid, the Somali government would turn to a bigger organization such as the UN.
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