Fifteen killed in fierce Mogadishu fighting
Saturday, 30 January 2010
MOGADISHU, Jan 29 (AFP): Heavy fighting in Mogadishu Friday between African peacekeepers and Al Qaeda-linked Somali insurgents killed at least fifteen people, mainly civilians, witnesses and medics said.
The clashes in the war-ravaged city marred plans to celebrate the first anniversary of the election of President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who was seen as Somalia's best chance for peace in years when he came to power.
The latest attack on his government and the peacekeepers protecting his fragile administration was claimed by the Shebab, a hardline Islamist group that launched a bruising military offensive in May 2009 aimed at toppling him.
Artillery exchanges and automatic weapons fire broke out around 2:00 am (Thursday) and continued through the night. After dying down a little the violence resumed in full intensity at dawn.
"Around seven civilians died in the clashes, including women and children. Most of them were killed by mortar shells and stray bullets," Abdi Adan, an eyewitness, told AFP.
The fighting was concentrated around the strategic K4 junction halfway between the Somali capital's airport and the port, on the edge of an area controlled by the African Union peacekeeping mission (Amisom).
"Four civilians died in Wardhigley district and three others were killed in Holwadag and Bakara area. It was the worst fighting we have seen recently," Mohamoud Ahmed, another local resident, said.
Civilians living in the densely-populated neighbourhoods clamped between Amisom-protected areas and the strongholds of the Shebab Islamist insurgents are often caught in the crossfire.
The Shebab, whose leader late last year proclaimed his allegiance to Al Qaeda supremo Osama bin Laden, issued a statement claiming responsibility for the shelling.
They were 0referring to government troops, who they accuse of being puppets of the West, and to Amisom's Ugandan and Burundian troops, who they routinely describe as crusaders bent on introducing Christianity to Muslim Somalia.
On January 30 last year, Somali MPs gathered in Djibouti to elect a new president and Sharif was declared the winner the next day.
The clashes in the war-ravaged city marred plans to celebrate the first anniversary of the election of President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who was seen as Somalia's best chance for peace in years when he came to power.
The latest attack on his government and the peacekeepers protecting his fragile administration was claimed by the Shebab, a hardline Islamist group that launched a bruising military offensive in May 2009 aimed at toppling him.
Artillery exchanges and automatic weapons fire broke out around 2:00 am (Thursday) and continued through the night. After dying down a little the violence resumed in full intensity at dawn.
"Around seven civilians died in the clashes, including women and children. Most of them were killed by mortar shells and stray bullets," Abdi Adan, an eyewitness, told AFP.
The fighting was concentrated around the strategic K4 junction halfway between the Somali capital's airport and the port, on the edge of an area controlled by the African Union peacekeeping mission (Amisom).
"Four civilians died in Wardhigley district and three others were killed in Holwadag and Bakara area. It was the worst fighting we have seen recently," Mohamoud Ahmed, another local resident, said.
Civilians living in the densely-populated neighbourhoods clamped between Amisom-protected areas and the strongholds of the Shebab Islamist insurgents are often caught in the crossfire.
The Shebab, whose leader late last year proclaimed his allegiance to Al Qaeda supremo Osama bin Laden, issued a statement claiming responsibility for the shelling.
They were 0referring to government troops, who they accuse of being puppets of the West, and to Amisom's Ugandan and Burundian troops, who they routinely describe as crusaders bent on introducing Christianity to Muslim Somalia.
On January 30 last year, Somali MPs gathered in Djibouti to elect a new president and Sharif was declared the winner the next day.