By SALAD DUHUL
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Two main hospitals said they admitted 26 civilians wounded during Sunday‘s fighting. The casualties by midmorning contrasted sharply with the toll from the previous day, when the Elman Human Rights Organization and hospital officials said heavy fighting in northern and southern Mogadishu killed at least 52 people and wounded 120.
"People in Mogadishu should vacate their homes which are located near the strongholds of terrorists and we will crack down on insurgents and terrorists very soon," Jelle told The Associated Press.
"I call on the both sides to stop the fighting and shelling without any condition," to save civilian lives, he told the AP by telephone.
The region is already tense because of the unresolved border dispute between Eritrea and Ethiopia that has seen the two countries go to war in the past. In recent months, the Somalia conflict has also been seen as a proxy war between the two, with each backing rival sides.
It did not make any direct reference to Somalia. But in recent years, the seven-nation Intergovernmental Authority on Development has spent most of its time trying to resolve conflicts such as Somalia, rather than focus on economic development for which it was set up.
Source: AP, April 22, 2007