Tuesday, June 02, 2009
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At least twenty people have been killed as fighting between Somali government forces and insurgents continues around the capital Mogadishu. Four Somali soldiers and six rebels were among those killed in northern Mogadishu on Tuesday.
Witnesses told Press TV that many others were also wounded in the exchange of fire between pro-government forces and rebels led by Al-Shabaab and other militant groups, who control large swathes of territory in Somalia.
Five civilians -- three children and two women -- were also killed and ten others wounded in clashes in Yakhshiid district in northern Mogadishu.
The recent fighting around Mogadishu comes after President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed declared an all-out war on the rebels in order to uproot the insurgency in the war-torn nation.
The recent wave of violence has left at least 200 people dead; over 60,000 local residents have been forced to flee their homes.
Senior Somali officials have held urgent meetings with regional clan leaders to attract their support in fighting anti-government rebels. A number of clans have agreed to back government troops.
Source: PressTV, June 02, 2009