SOMALIA: Seven civilians killed in Mogadishu clashes: residents
Posted by warvictims on July 21, 2008
At least seven civilians were killed when Islamist insurgents attacked a joint convoy of Ethiopian and Somali troops, sparking deadly clashes, witnesses said on Monday.
Fifteen others were wounded in the clashes that erupted Sunday in northern Mogadishu’s Towfiq district and spread to others residential zones in the volatile coastal capital, they said.
“Five civilians, including four children, were killed in Gupta neighbourhood when they were hit by an artillery shell. Four of them died in the spot while the fifth one passed away later,” said Abdifatah Mohamed Nur, a resident.
Another resident Muktar Bile said stray bullets killed two other civilians in Sinay area, bringing the death toll to seven.
“Two young men died after they were hit by stray bullets in our neighbourhood. I know one of them, he was a footballer,” added Colonel Hassan Artan Warsame, a police official.
Another police official confirmed the clashes but declined to give details on the civilian casualty.
“The terrorists attacked our forces, but we repelled them. They fired heavy rockets and we responded, but I can’t tell the casualties,” added the official, who requested to remain unnamed.
Islamist insurgents spokesman Sheikh Abdirahin Ise Ado said they killed nine Somali forces and Ethiopian allies in the fighting. “We killed nine of them in Towfiq junction.”
The insurgents have waged a guerrilla war since they were ousted from large swathes of the country’s southern and central regions by Ethiopian and Somali forces early last year.
They have launched attacks almost daily since then, in which many government fighters — and civilians — have been killed.
The insurgents, known as Shebab, have been accused of having links with the Al-Qaeda network.
The latest clash came days after a July 9 deadline for the implementation of a truce, which last month was initialled by the federal government and top leaders from the main Islamist-dominated opposition movement in Djibouti.
The June 9 accord gave all sides a month to start enforcing a ceasefire but was quickly rejected by Islamist hardliners, including the Shebab.
They insist that Ethiopian forces backing the government should withdraw from the country before any talks start.
