Wednesday, May 12, 2010
MOGADISHU (AFP) — Somali government forces attacked hardline Islamist fighters Wednesday, sparking a fierce exchange of fire which left at least nine people dead, officials said.
Somali Defence Minister Yusuf Mohamed Siad told AFP they raided the militia base in the capital Mogadishu in retaliation for an attack by the insurgents.
Six of the dead were civilians while the others were fighters, medical sources and an AFP correspondent said.
"Our forces advanced onto the position of the violent guys here in Taleh neighborhood as they attacked our positions. They run away... after we killed several of them," Siad said.
Head of Mogadishu ambulance service Ali Muse said 31 civilians were also wounded by the shelling.
The Western-backed Somali government and the Islamist rebels have waged near-daily battles for the control of the seaside city of Mogadishu since last May.
The insurgents, who control much of the country, have vowed to overthrow the government and force out the African Union peacekeepers protecting it.
Source: AFP