Tuesday, February 20, 2007
The fighting, in which more than 36 people were injured, was the heaviest since Ethiopian-backed government forces ousted the powerful Islamist movement from Mogadishu late last year.
Deputy Defence Minister Salat Ali Jelle said gunmen had attacked the defence ministry building, the presidential palace and the military hospital - all in volatile southern Mogadishu.
"The government forces and those of the friendly Ethiopian troops responded with fire by only targeting terrorists who first waged violence," Jelle told AFP.
"Only one soldier was slightly injured," he added.
Five people had died as of late Monday and hospital sources said on Tuesday that three more had succumbed to their injuries while another four bodies had been recovered by local residents.
Witnesses said that large numbers of people were fleeing the capital to safer areas, with some putting the figure in the thousands.
"Most of the people are fleeing to Lower Shabelle (region). Anywhere but Mogadishu is safer," said lorry drive Mukhtar Abbas.
The security situation in the capital has become especially dire at night.
"Mogadishu is partially run by freelance gunmen and at night it is a battle ground for Somali government forces," said Asha Osman, a mother of seven.
Since ousting the Islamist leadership, the weak Somali government and its Ethiopian backers have failed to impose control on the chaotic capital.
Remnants of the Islamist movement, which has since disbanded into clan-based militia, have vowed to wage an insurgency.
On Sunday, at least seven people were killed in separate attacks, four of them in a car explosion.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the government has repeatedly blamed insurgents allied to the ousted Islamist force.
Prime Minister Mohamed Ali Gedi has reiterated the need for an urgent deployment of Africa Union peacekeepers to Somalia to help the war-torn nation steer back to stability.
The African Union, hamstrung by disagreements as well as funding and manpower problems, has so far managed to raise half of the required 8 000 peacekeepers with officials saying they have received troop pledges from Nigeria, Burundi, Malawi and Ghana.
The insurgents have vowed to attack and kill the peacekeepers.
A previous 1993-1995 peace mission ended disastrously after UN and US troops fled the country, paving the way for the rise of clan warlords.
The Horn of Africa nation, home to about 10 million people, has suffered 16 years of anarchic bloodletting since it fell into chaos with the 1991 ouster of former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
Source: AFP, Feb 20, 2007