Sunday, November 09, 2008
Seven other civilians were wounded in the fighting in southern Mogadishu's Folorensa Junction and Taleh districts where government troops are based.
"I saw three bodies near Foleransa Junction, where insurgents exchanged machinegun fire with Somali forces. Four civilians were wounded," said Osmail Salad, a witness.
Another witness, Mohamoud Adan Shire, said a civilian and a child were also killed by stray bullets in Taleh district, taking the death toll to five.
An Islamist commander, Sheikh Kofi, claimed that insurgents had killed several soldiers, but there was no independent confirmation.
"We killed several Somali government troops when we attacked three of their bases," he told AFP.
Several witnesses confirmed the civilian toll and said three others were wounded in the skirmishes.
Ethiopian troops poured into Somalia in late 2006 and helped oust Islamist militants who had taken control of much of the country and started to impose Sharia law.
Since then, the rebels have waged a guerrilla war, saying they would only meet the government for peace talks after Ethiopian troops pull out of the country.
Fighting has raged mainly in Mogadishu despite several ceasefires signed between the government and its political opposition at UN-mediated peace talks in Djibouti.
Somalia, a nation of some 10 million people, has lacked an effective government since the 1991 ouster of president Mohamed Siad Barre touched off a bloody power struggle that has defied numerous attempts to restore stability.
Source: AFP, Nov 09, 2008