Thursday 24 March 2011

11 soldiers killed in Somalia blasts

At least eleven soldiers have been killed and dozens injured in two heavy land mine explosions that rocked a district north of the Somali capital, Mogadishu.


Witnesses say the remotely-controlled devices went off in the Bondheere district of Mogadishu on Wednesday. At least two military vehicles were destroyed as a result of the detonations, a Press TV correspondent reported.

No group or person has claimed responsibility for the explosions.

Meanwhile, clashes have erupted between government forces and Somali fighters in the Dharkenley district of south Mogadishu.

The Horn of Africa nation has been without a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

Over the past two decades, up to one million people have lost their lives in the fighting between rival factions due to famine and disease.

There are more than 1.4 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Somalia. More than 300,000 IDPs are sheltering in Mogadishu alone.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, most of the displaced live in poor and degrading conditions on makeshift sites in southern and central Somalia.

VM/GHN/HRF

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