Deadly Battles Continue In Somali Capital
Heavy fighting in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, has flared for the third consecutive day, with five people being killed. Another 25 people were injured in the latest attacks on Wednesday, in the Bakara market area.
Battles between government forces, backed by African Union troops, and al-Shabab fighters continued on several fronts in the north and south of the city.
"The fighting resumed this morning intensely and the government forces are advancing towards the enemy lines, they [the enemy] lost many fighters," Mohamed Adan, a Somali government security officer, said.
This came a day after 32 people were killed in an attack on a hotel in Mogadishu in which 32 people, including eight members of parliament, died.
Hotel attack
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The US condemned Tuesday's attack in which gunmen wearing military uniforms stormed the Muna Hotel, that hosts government officials, and a suicide bomber blew himself up inside. Al-Shabab rebels said that their special forces carried out the attack. The assault came after the group declared a "decisive" war against African Union peacekeepers deployed in the city. Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Rage, al-Shabab's spokesman, said fighters were starting a new war against "invaders" - an apparent reference to the 6,000 African Union troops deployed in the country to support government forces. Hundreds of new peacekeepers, mostly Ugandan, have arrived in recent days to help the government in its battle against al-Shabab. The force has so far been able to do little more than guard the airport and port and shield Sharif Ahmed, the president. Uganda tensions Somalia's members of parliament, the apparent targets of Tuesday's attack, do not benefit from this protection. Uganda said last month that it was willing to send 1,200 troops to Somalia, in addition to the 6,000 strong AMISOM mission sent by African Union countries. Al-Shabab, which has been fighting Somalia's government since 2007, recently claimed responsibility for a twin bombing in Uganda which killed more than 70 people who were watching the football World Cup. The group has said that it will continue to undertake strikes in Uganda and Burundi as long as those countries provide troops for the AU peacekeeping force in Somalia. Somalia has not had an effective central government for nearly 20 years and al-Shabab controls significant portions of the country. More than 21,000 Somalis have been killed in fighting since the start of the uprising, 1.5 million have been uprooted from their homes and nearly half a million are sheltering in other countries in the region. Source: Aljazeera |
