MOGADISHU, March 29 (Xinhua) -- About 12 people were killed and 20 others
wounded as a heavy fighting broke out in the Somali capital Mogadishu between
clan insurgents and Ethiopian troops on Thursday, hospital sources and residents
said.
Two helicopters started bombardment in the rebel positions
of Mogadishu, the local Shabelle radio reported.
Witnesses said that four people were killed and seven
others wounded when a shell hit a garage in Gubta neighborhood in Mogadishu.
"Eight people were killed and nearly thirteen injured people, all of them
civilians, were brought to the hospital," said a senior nurse at Medina
Hospital, who sought anonymity.
The sound of heavy artillery and machine gunfire could be
heard throughout the city. More people have begun to flee the battle areas and
seeking refuge in other locations of the capital. Public transport plying in
some Mogadishu neighborhoods stopped their service.
Columns of thick black smoke could be seen billowing from Towfik area near
the Mogadishu Stadium, where the fiercest fighting was centered.
This fighting came only a week after a ceasefire signed between Hawiye clan
elders and Ethiopian troops led to a relative calm in Mogadishu.
The Somali government has pledged to pacify the city in time for the
national reconciliation congress to be held in Mogadishu on April 16.
The Somali Parliament based in Baidoa, a town 250 km south of Mogadishu,
has voted unanimously to relocate the cabinet to Mogadishu early last week.
NAIROBI, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Two helicopters started
bombardment in rebel positions of the Somali capital Mogadishu,the local
Shabelle radio reported on Thursday.
The casualties from the air attacks are not clear as the
fighting is going on, the report said.
The attack came after a heavy fighting broke out in
Mogadishu between clan insurgents and Ethiopian troops on Thursday. Full story
MOGADISHU, March 29 (Xinhua) -- A heavy fighting broke out
in the Somali capital of Mogadishu between clan insurgents and Ethiopian troops
on Thursday, residents said.
Ahmed Yusuf, a taxi driver told Xinhua four people were
killed and seven others wounded when a shell hit a garage in Gubta neighborhood
in Mogadishu.
"The shell came out of nowhere and landed in the
garage," Yusuf said. Full story
NAIROBI, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The UN refugee agency said on Thursday the fighting in Somalia's capital Mogadishu has driven out of the city an estimated 57,000 Somalis in the past two months.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)said more than 10,000 people fled violence last week, which left at least 24 people dead.
"UNHCR's local partners in Mogadishu said they had seen hundreds of people waiting anxiously during the weekend in crowded bus stations or searching for truck drivers to take them out of the volatile city," the agency said in a news release. Full story
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