Mogadishu — Fighting between pro-government forces and Islamist insurgents continued for a third consecutive day in the Somali capital Mogadishu, killing at least two dozen people and wounding scores, Radio Garowe reports.
The violence was concentrated in several districts in north Mogadishu, including Yaaqshiid, Kaaraan and Shibis.
African Union peacekeepers (AMISOM) were involved in the fighting on Thursday, with witnesses saying AMISOM artillery fire targeted Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam rebel hideouts in different parts of Mogadishu.
According to medical sources, at least 25 people have been killed in this new round of violence and upwards of 70 others wounded. Most of the dead and wounded victims are civilians, the sources added.
Exodus
Hundreds of people have been fleeing their homes in north Mogadishu districts where the eruption of fresh violence has worsened a humanitarian crisis.
Families in districts such as Bondheere, Shibis and Kaaraan who have survived much of Mogadishu’s wars have been fleeing their homes in huge numbers, witnesses and local sources said.
These districts have been relatively quiet in recent years, including during the time of the two-year Ethiopian army intervention in Mogadishu that ended in Jan. 2009.
Locals said it is the “largest number” of families fleeing war in these districts in nearly two decades.
‘Dead foreign fighters’
Yusuf Indho Ade, a notorious former warlord, has told reporters that pro-government forces killed a number of ‘foreign fighters’ during recent battles in Mogadishu.
“We have three dead bodies…one is African [descent] and the other two appear to be from Pakistan or Afghanistan,” he said, but did not provide any dead bodies for reporters to see.
Indho Ade was recently appointed as the interim government’s state minister for defense.
Separately, Hizbul Islam spokesman Muse Abdi Arale rejected Indho Ade’s claims and stated that ‘foreign fighters’ were not involved in the fighting.
In past remarks, Al Shabaab commanders have openly said that ‘foreign fighters’ from Muslim countries around the world are part of the insurgency aimed at toppling the country’s Western-backed interim government.
The U.S. government has listed Al Shabaab as a terrorist organization with links to Al Qaeda.
Recently, the U.S. provided a weapons shipment to the beleaguered Somali interim government, led by President Sheikh Sharif. Al Shabaab insurgents have vowed to take the weapons from government hands by force.
Separately, Hizbul Islam spokesman Muse Abdi Arale rejected Indho Ade’s claims and stated that ‘foreign fighters’ were not involved in the fighting.
In past remarks, Al Shabaab commanders have openly said that ‘foreign fighters’ from Muslim countries around the world are part of the insurgency aimed at toppling the country’s Western-backed interim government.
The U.S. government has listed Al Shabaab as a terrorist organization with links to Al Qaeda.
Recently, the U.S. provided a weapons shipment to the beleaguered Somali interim government, led by President Sheikh Sharif. Al Shabaab insurgents have vowed to take the weapons from government hands by force.
15 dead in Mogadishu fighting
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AFP, July 3)–Heavy clashes between Somalian government troops and hardline militia in the war-torn capital Mogadishu killed at least 15 civilians Friday, witnesses said.
The government troops launched an offensive to dislodge the Shebab and other hardline fighters from positions in Mogadishu’s Karan district which they had seized in recent battles.
“I have seen the bodies of six people who were killed by stray bullets. Three of them are from the same family,” Ahmed Abdi Mumin, an elder in Karan, told AFP.
Another resident, Hassan Abdullahi, said four people were killed at a former navy barracks in the district.
Five others, including a child, also died in the clashes, according to residents.
“We will bury them today even without being identified,” said Moalim Hassan Alas.
The Shebab and Hezb al-Islam, a more political group, launched an unprecedented nationwide offensive in May against the administration of President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
The internationally backed Sharif has been holed up in his presidential quarters, protected by African Union peacekeepers, as his forces were unable to reassert their authority over the capital.
Around 300 people are confirmed to have been killed in the latest violence, many of them civilians.
More Ethiopian troops pour into Somalia
BELEDWEYN, Somalia (July 2) – More Ethiopian troops with armed vehicles have reached near Beledweyn town in central Somalia as Ethiopia said that it does not plan to send troops into Somalia, witnesses told Shabelle radio on Thursday.
Residents in El-gal and Ilka’adde villages about 20 kilometers north of Beledweyn town said that they had seen more Ethiopian units with many battle wagons pouring in there at overnight until Thursday morning adding that the troops made military movement in Kala-beyrka intersection in Hiran region.
“The Ethiopian troops arrived at El-gal village last night and they had been there for several hours and lately returned back from the village. They were including infantry troops and others with armed trucks,” one resident said.
Reports from Kala-beyrka intersection say that more extra troops from Ethiopia crossed from the border joining to the other Ethiopian troops who had already been there.
It is unclear why the Ethiopian troops are returning back to parts of the central regions of Somalia and their deployment comes as the Ethiopian government spokesman Baraket Simon said that his government is not planning to send troops to Somali.
Ethiopia will stay out of Somalia despite threat
ADDIS ABABA,July 1 (AFP) – Ethiopia on Wednesday said it will not send troops to Somalia, though a hardline Islamist militia fighting to topple the Somali government recently threatened to invade the neighbouring country.
“No matter what has been said, our position is that we are not entering Somalia at this point,” government spokesman Bereket Simon told reporters.
He nonetheless termed this week’s threat by the hardline Shebab fighters as “an open declaration of war,” and said Addis Ababa was closely monitoring events in the war-ravaged neighbouring state.
Ethiopian troops rolled into Somalia in late 2006 to buttress an embattled government but withdrew earlier this year.
Somali residents have recently reported seeing truckloads of Ethiopian troops around the country’s central regions but Ethiopian officials have repeatedly denied those claims.
On May 7, the Shebab and Hezb al-Islam, a more political group, launched an unprecedented nationwide offensive against the administration of President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
The internationally backed Sharif has been holed up in his presidential quarters, protected by African Union peacekeepers as his forces were unable to reassert their authority over the capital.
Around 300 people are confirmed to have been killed in the latest violence, many of them civilians.
