Tuesday, May 27, 2008
"There was an attempted attack by these violent people on our base," Baridgye Bahuko told AFP, adding that Ugandan forces killed two of the attackers, who launched their assault with rifles and artillery.
The attack was claimed by the Shebab, the military branch of the government that controlled large parts of Somalia for six months before being ousted last year by Ethiopian forces supporting the Somali transitional government.
According to several witnesses contacted by AFP, at least 11 civilians were killed in the ensuing exchange of fire.
"My son was among eight civilians killed by a heavy artillery shell that smashed into a building where they were all hiding, trying to avoid the crossfire," Muktar Husein Ali said.
Another local resident gave the same death toll.
"About eight dead bodies were pulled out from a building that was destroyed by an artillery shell. Most of the victims were torn to pieces," Asha Mohammad said.
Several other witnesses said the fierce clashes, which broke out shortly before 7:00 p.m., left another two civilians dead.
"I saw two young boys killed by an RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] explosion ... behind the Ambassador Hotel," said Farah Abdi Warsame, adding that several others were wounded in the same area.
According to witnesses, a child caught in the crossfire was also killed in the Taleh district.
In a statement posted on their Web site, the Shebab boasted the attack was the largest on the Ugandans since they deployed to Mogadishu in March 2007.
"The Shebab mujahedeen [holy warriors] carried out an attack against the Ugandan invaders," the statement said. "Our attack was launched from four directions ... It was the heaviest attack ever on [the area] where the Ugandans are based."
Since the Islamists were ousted from Mogadishu by the Ethiopians in April 2007, their fighters have reverted to guerrilla warfare, targeting Somali government, Ethiopian and AMISOM forces almost daily.
According to international rights groups and aid agencies, at least 6,000 civilians have died in the fighting over the past year.
AMISOM has just over 2,600 Ugandan and Burundian troops in Somalia but the deployment falls far short of the 8,000 troops pledged by the pan-African body's member countries and has been unable to curb the violence.
Violence surged when the top Islamist commander Aden Hashi Ayro was killed in a US air strike earlier this month, prompting the Shebab to vow an intensification of their attacks.
Source: AFP, May 27, 2008