Hiiraan Online
Monday, May 23, 2011
At least seven people including newlyweds have been killed as a result of AMISOM shelling in Somalia’s restive capital Mogadishu as heavy fighting between forces of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia and Al-Shabaab fighters intensified on Sunday night.
AMISOM forces raided Mogadishu with artillery shelling hitting settlements within Yaaqshid district of the capital which has been the stronghold of the opposition Al-Shabaab. Eye witnesses told Hiiraan Online that two newlyweds were among the dead following the offensive that has not spared a colorful wedding ceremony.
The couples reportedly died after they were hit by shelling inside the compound of their new home hours after completing a full-day wedding paraphernalia punctuated with endless crossfire and bombardment.
"Yaaqshid district was hit by artillery shelling; our village of Towfiiq was the worst hit. Two newlyweds died in last night’s raid, scores of other people died while several others were injured “an eye witness told Hiiraan Online.
Scores of others injured were reportedly rushed to different hospitals in Mogadishu as seething anger and frustrations bent the minds and hearts of the friends and families of the couples who died in the AMISOM raid.
No official communication from AMISOM top brass regarding the bombardment of the wedding ceremony that turned tragic. In recent days both AMISOM and TFG forces have denied any involvement of indiscriminate shelling of civilian settlements.
Last week a similar shelling killed at least 16 people at a district in Mogadishu. Both TFG and AMISON have since denied conducting the raid.
But this latest shelling of a wedding ceremony is a powerful testimony of the suffering of civilian non-combatants as the relentless conflict in Somalia gets more bloody every passing day.