Four Killed In Mogadishu Shooting

Somalia

Somalia: 4 civilians killed in Mogadishu fighting
30 Aug 30, 2009 - 8:35:17 AM

MOGADISHU, Somalia Aug 30 (Garowe Online) - At least four people were killed during Saturday night clashes in the Somali capital Mogadishu between government forces and Islamist insurgents, Radio Garowe reports.

The fighting initially started as an exchange of shells between the warring sides, with reports saying the shells hit locations in Mogadishu’s Yaaqshiid and Shibis districts.

But street battles erupted thereafter, raging for nearly half-an-hour, according to residents.

“Four civilians were killed…three people died when a shell slammed into their house,” said a witness who did not wish to be named in print. More civilians had been wounded, according to Mogadishu medical centers.

He noted that the fighting sides “lost people” but could not confirm a number.

Somali government officials did not speak about the latest violence, which comes a day after the spokesman for Al Shabaab insurgents, Sheikh Ali “Dheere” Mohamud, said they will “double” the war against Somali government forces and their African Union (AMISOM) allies.

Al Shabaab’s spokesman accused Ethiopian troops who captured the strategic town of Beletwein, in central Somalia, of “killing and looting” parts of western Beletwein, which was previously under Al Shabaab’s control. Al Shabaab fighters retreated from Beletwein as a joint Somali-Ethiopian force advanced yesterday, reports say.

Somalia’s UN-backed interim government is battling against Islamist insurgents, who have vowed to overthrow the government, which they accuse of being a puppet of Western interests.

The West, which supports the interim government, accuses the insurgents of being inspired by Al Qaeda.

The UN says the humanitarian situation in Somalia is getting worse by the day, as the conflict as disrupted critical aid delivery to needy families in parts of southern and central Somalia.

Source: Garowe Online