Monday, July 02, 2007
There was no immediate confirmation on casualties from either of the two attacks carried out late on Sunday by suspected insurgents.
Ethiopians troops based at a stadium in northern Mogadishu were attacked from two fronts, residents said.
"Men carrying rockets and machineguns last night attacked Ethiopian troops," resident Kulmiye Mohamed told Reuters. "They attacked them from two sides with rockets. The Ethiopians responded. It was very heavy fighting."
Senior police officer Ali Nur confirmed a separate attack on the Hodan police station, which has been assaulted before like many other government positions favoured as targets by insurgents.
"Such attacks have become a normal thing. Gunmen fired rockets and then opened fire at policemen on duty. They were repulsed after a short but heavy exchange. Our soldiers found an AK-47 rifle they left behind," Nur told Reuters.
He said no one was injured.
Explosions and deadly duels have engulfed the anarchic city since the interim government, with Ethiopian military help, ousted a militant Islamist movement over the New Year that controlled most of southern Somalia.
Security experts say Islamist fighters have regrouped and are carrying out Iraq-style attacks including roadside bombings, suicide blasts and assassinations.
In a speech over the weekend celebrating Somalia's July 1 Independence Day, President Abdullahi Yusuf vowed to end insurgency in the Somali capital Mogadishu and promised to hand over power after his mandate expires in 2009.
Yusuf's administration is the 14th attempt at restoring central rule in Somalia since former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted by clan militias in 1991, and anarchy ensued.
Source: Reuters, July 02, 2007