Sat Feb 26, 2011 10:32AM
Al-Shabab fighters in Somalia (file photo)
Fresh clashes between al-Shabab fighters and government soldiers backed by African Union forces have left 69 civilians killed and over 100 injured in Somalia.
The clashes broke out after al-Shabab fighters attacked houses in Balet Hawo Town of the southern region of Gedo with artillery fire, a Press TV correspondent reports.
Meanwhile, twenty five al-Shabab fighters have reportedly been killed and over 30 others were injured in clashes in Galgaduud region of Wardhumadle Town. The town is said to have been forced out of the control of al-Shabab fighters.
Somalia's Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed announced a new offensive on al-Shabab fighters on Wednesday, adding that 17,000 African Union and Somali soldiers will continue to fight until al-Shabab's hold on Mogadishu is shattered.
Somalia has been without an effective central government since former dictator Siad Barre was overthrown by warlords in 1991.
Somali government controls only a small part of Mogadishu. Lack of coordination among its forces who are barely trained and seldom get paid has for long barred the government's promise of a full-scale war against opposition fighters.
Fighting, famine and disease have led to the death of nearly one million people in the African country and crushed all government efforts at restoring security.
There are more than 1.4 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Somalia. More than 300,000 of them are sheltered in Mogadishu alone.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, most of the IDPs live in squalid conditions at makeshift sites in southern and central Somalia.
HJL/MGH
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