Monday, July 21, 2008
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Mogadishu (dpa) - Clashes between Islamic rebels and government soldiers in the north of the Somali capital Mogadishu left a number of people dead including five children between the ages of six and 13, it was reported on Monday.The children, pupils at a Koran school, were reported by witnesses to have been trying to flee as rebels attacked an Ethiopian military base on Sunday evening.
In another incident, two youths were killed when a grenade exploded on a football field where the teenagers were playing.
A spokesperson for the radical Islamist Al-Shabab Militia said on Monday that the rebels had killed nine soldiers and wounded several more.
In the central Somalia, rebels also attacked a convoy of army recruits on their way to Mogadishu.
According to an army spokesperson, 12 rebels were killed in the clash, including an Iraqi and a Pakistani.
Islamic rebels have been waging a guerrilla war against the Somali transitional government and its Ethiopian allies since the overthrow in early 2007 of a government led by the Union of Islamic Courts.
Source: dpa, July 21, 2008