Sunday, April 20, 2008
The casualties "were caused by Ethiopians using heavy artillery and tank shells in residential areas of the war-torn capital. We condemn this latest fighting," said the chairman of Elman Human Rights, Sudan Ali Ahmed.
Besides the 81 dead, 119 people have been wounded, he said.
The Somali rights group tracks casualties through hospitals and morgues and puts out regular reports on the toll from Somalia's fighting. The group said all 81 dead were civilians, but their figures could not be independently verified. Ethiopian officials could not be reached for comment on the group's claim that it was shelling from their forces that caused the casualties.
On Sunday clashes broke out in rubble-strewn streets still littered with the uncollected bodies of the dead from the previous day's violence. A witness, Aden Shire, said the Ethiopians seemed to be searching for the bodies of fellow soldiers killed the previous day.
Witnesses reported seeing bodies in civilian clothing from the fighting Sunday, but because insurgents also dress in civilian clothing, it was impossible to say how many of the dead were noncombatants.
Omar Abdulahi said that among the dead he counted were two old men shot by Ethiopian soldiers inside their homes. Nasteho Moalim said her 7-year-old daughter and three neighbors were killed by tank shells fired by Ethiopian forces that hit their homes. Her husband was wounded.
On the government's side, at least one Somali soldier and two Ethiopians were killed, said Asha Shegow Abikar, who saw their bodies outside his house.
Prime minister Nur Hassan Husein addressed the growing toll of civilian casualties during the latest outbreak of fighting.
"The government is sorry about the fighting and loss of innocent civilian lives," he said Sunday. "Our aim is to restore law and order through reconciliation and peaceful means, but that does not mean our troops and those of our ally Ethiopia will not defend themselves as they come under constant attack."
Ethiopian troops supporting the transitional government's soldiers come under daily attack from the Islamic fighters they chased from power in the capital in December 2006.
The Islamists receive support from Ethiopia's archenemy, Eritrea.
Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew a dictator then turned on one another.
Source: AP, April 20, 2008