Insurgents clash with government troops in Mogadishu: witnesses

MOGADISHU (AFP) — Somali insurgents on Wednesday clashed with Ethiopia-backed government forces in the war-torn capital Mogadishu, witnesses said.

 

"Insurgents fought with the government forces near my house in Bakara. A civilian was wounded in the fighting," said Ali Hosow, a resident of the capital's restive Bakara market neighbourhood.

 

"The insurgents are positioned in narrow streets in Bakara and it seems they will fight again," he said, adding they were armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.

 

A second bout of fighting erupted late Wednesday in southern Mogadishu after the insurgents attacked a new deployment of Somali troops trained in Ethiopia who arrived to replace Ethiopian forces, witnesses added.

 

Long-range shells from the battle zone in defence ministry headquarters landed as far as Gupta neighbourhood in northern Mogadishu, residents said.

 

"Heavy artillery shells are landing in our neighbourhood. One of them landed very close to my house and several others around the area," said Rahmo Sheikh Aden, a resident of Gupta.

 

A southern Mogadishu resident, Mohamed Bashir, said the artillery duel was among the heaviest in recent days.

 

"Tonight, we are witnessing the heaviest shelling. Mortars are landing everywhere. We have been trapped in out houses," Bashir said from his house in Shirkole district.

 

Both residents could not give any fatality figures, saying it was too dangerous to venture outside.

 

Islamist militants have waged an insurgency in Mogadishu since they were defeated by Ethiopian and Somali forces early this year, ending their brief rule in the country's southern and central regions.

 

Bakara market, once the heart of the battered seaside capital, is one of several Mogadishu districts that have been almost completely deserted and sees almost daily fighting.

 

The deadly insurgency has led an estimated 600,000 displaced to leave Mogadishu in recent weeks, prompting growing fears of a severe humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations.

 

Aid groups have said that insecurity is choking their efforts to deliver humanitarian supplies to those affected.

 

Civil fighting has defied numerous bid to restore stability in the Horn of Africa nation since it slipped into anarchy after the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

 

Source: AFP, December 13, 2007