May 24, 2009
(CNN) -- Fighting between government and rebel forces in Somalia
over the past two days has killed more than 40 civilians and wounded
about 150 others, according to sources at the scene.
Most of the casualties occurred Friday, when 39 Somali civilians
were killed in crossfire, hospital sources and eyewitnesses told CNN.
Officials said 138 other civilians have been admitted to Madina
Hospital in Mogadishu, where government forces went on the offensive
against al-Shabab militants. Somalia's Shabelle media reported
three more deaths and more than a dozen others wounded Saturday from
sporadic fighting and shelling in Mogadishu, which started after the
rebels advanced to the presidential palace.
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| Ethiopian troops roll into Somalia in 2006. |
Government forces targeted the Bakarah market, an al-Shabab stronghold, and other militant locations in the city, sources said.
Eyewitnesses told CNN at least three government forces were killed in
Friday clashes and that the dead bodies of militants had been spotted.
Al-Shabab -- once the armed wing of the Islamic Courts Union -- has
been designated as a terrorist group by the United States, which says
it is affiliated with the al Qaeda terrorist network.
SOURCE: CNN, May 24. 2009