Friday, August 21, 2009
The clashes in the capital's southern districts followed a day of fighting between pro-goverment forces and the extremist group in central Somalia that left at least 21 dead.
A police commander in the war-wracked city said the rebels attacked their positions late Thursday, sparking a fire exchange that also wounded 22 civilians.
"There were clashes between the Somali forces and the insurgents. They attacked our base near Taleh and we killed several of them," Hussein Mohamed Ali told AFP without giving details.
Residents in the southern Taleh district said mortar bombs and stray bullets killed at least 16 people, including fighters.
"I saw seven bodies, some of them were fighters. They were killed in the clashes this morning," said Farah Abdi.
Nine other people were killed in the early hours of Friday, according to other residents.
"Everyone is traumatised by the bombs because they're hitting heavily populated parts of town," said Ibrahim Moalim.
Battles for control of the Horn of Africa's central regions -- in the hands of the Shebab -- intensified this week as pro-government forces launched raids against their rivals, an Al Qaeda-inspired organisation.
The government troops are backed by militias from the Sufi group Ahlu Sunna wal Jamaa and other clan-based armed groups.
Earlier this week, the pro-government fighters recaptured two strategic southwestern towns from the Shebab without any fighting, but the insurgents later wrested back control.
On Thursday, government troops thrust deep into a Shebab-controlled territory, attacking Bulobarde, a town on the main road between Mogadishu and Beledweyn town on the border with Ethiopia.
However, the Shebab retaliated by attacking their rear in Beledweyn.
Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Rage, the Shebab spokesman, vowed to fight on until they deafeat their rivals and blamed an African Union peacekeeping force for the Mogadishu clashes.
"The apostate government wants to legitimise the invading forces and their atrocities in Somalia, but I tell you that our holy warriors will never lay down arms until they liberate the country from the enemy of Allah," he told reporters.
He also called for intensified attacks against the government during Ramadan.
"With the help of Allah we are winning in the battlefields so far," he said late Thursday.
"I call upon the mujahideens and Somali people to benefit from the holy month of Ramadan and attack the foreign forces and their apostate government."
Somalia has been in chaos since 1991. Hizb al-Islam and the hardline Shebab armed group are the two main factions in the insurgency bent on toppling President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and ousting the African Union forces from the country.
Source: AFP, August 21, 2009