MOGADISHU: Terrified residents fled Mogadishu during a lull in fighting yesterday between Somali government forces and rebels that has taken a toll of over 50 lives in two days of fighting.
Witnesses said at least five civilians died and over a dozen were wounded yesterday as the fighting resumed late afternoon in the capital’s two districts.
“One of my neighbors and two other civilians have died,” said Asha Olow, speaking to AFP by telephone. “Fighting is still going on in our neighborhood.” In southern Mogadishu, two others were killed when a mortar shell landed near a cafe in the Bakara area, an insurgent stronghold.
“We ran away from the area to escape the mortars which were falling randomly,” said Farah Yusuf, another witness.
Ali Musa Mohamed, a medic with an ambulance service, said they had collected at least 13 wounded civilians.
At least 45 people were killed Friday, most of them civilians trapped in the crossfire or claimed by mortars in the deadliest fighting in two weeks.
The calm in the morning saw many inhabitants packing up and fleeing the city, some on donkey-carts, to camps outside the capital. Police officer Col. Mohamed Adan said: “Many people are fleeing to avoid getting caught in crossfire.”
Some residents said fighting broke out yesterday when government troops opened fire on rebel positions. On Friday, government forces encountered fierce resistance as they tried unsuccessfully to drive the insurgents out of the capital.
With President Sharif Ahmed holed up in his compound with a handful of supporters and under African Union (AU) peacekeepers’ protection, his embattled forces attacked insurgents in three positions they had lost in two weeks of fighting that has now killed close to 150 people. Aid agencies said the latest bout of fighting had displaced 49,000 people.
The Somali capital has been ravaged by 18 years of almost uninterrupted civil strife. Hundreds of thousands fled the capital after Ethiopia invaded the Horn of Africa nation in 2006. The Shebab and Hezb Al-Islamiya fighters are the main insurgent groups trying to topple Ahmed’s internationally recognized transitional government.
The rebels launched a fresh round of attacks on May 7 and said they had received the support of foreign fighters. Eritrea is accused of supporting the insurgents and of playing a role in the latest offensive aimed at helping Islamist leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys remove his former ally Ahmed from power.
The six-nation East African Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) called Wednesday on the United Nations to impose sanctions on Asmara.
