DPA
Monday, September 24, 2007
Mogadishu (dpa) - Battles raged in the Somali capital Mogadishu overnight Sunday, killing at least five people, witnesses said Monday. Insurgents fought government troops face-to-face near Mogadishu University, launching rocket propelled grenades and spraying bullets in an exchange of fire that residents said was the worst they had seen in weeks.
"I could not stand the sound of the shelling. It was too heavy. This fighting will not end soon," said Mohamoud Dahir, a resident.
Witnesses said three of the five people killed were wearing uniforms and may have been government soldiers, but this could not be confirmed.
The fighting came days after an anti-government group based in Asmara, Eritrea, known as the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia swore to purge the country of Ethiopian troops, who have said they will remain in Mogadishu until the city is secured.
The transitional government has been unable to assert its authority over the bullet-scarred capital, and bloodletting has been the norm since the administration's Ethiopian-backed troops swept into Mogadishu in January.
Somalia was plunged into anarchy after the 1991 toppling of dictator Mohammed Siad Barre and effective central rule has since not been cemented.
Source: dpa, Sept 24, 2007