SOMALIA: Fighting injures at least 32 in capital Mogadishu

Record ID: 352509

  • Title: SOMALIA: Fighting injures at least 32 in capital Mogadishu
  • Date: 14th February 2010
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Somali) DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDINA HOSPITAL, DUNIYAH ALI, SAYING: "In the last 24 hours, we have received 32 wounded civilians. Most of them are women and children as a result of the continuing mortar and artillery shelling. 21 of them are in serious conditions and were hospitalised but the others were sent back to their homes after we gave them the treatment t
  • Embargoed: 1st March 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Somalia
  • Country: Somalia
  • Reuters ID: LVA1HRH8WUX7SD7MY0DIVBJGC3HJ
  • Story Text: Fighting between Islamist insurgents and African Union peacekeepers together with the Somali transitional federal government (TFG) on Friday (February 12) wounded at least 32 people in Somalia's capital Mogadishu.
    Rebels from the al Shabaab group exchanged gun fire and artillery shelling with AMISOM peacekeeping troops and TFG troops in the latest wave of fighting in the East African nation.
    "In the last 24 hours, we have received 32 wounded civilians. Most of them are women and children as a result of the continuing mortar and artillery shelling. 21 of them are in serious conditions and were hospitalised but the others were sent back to their homes after we gave them the treatment they needed," Medina hospital's deputy chief doctor Duniyah Ali said.
    Thousands of civilians have fled the Somali capital fearing a government offensive against the attacking Islamist rebels, witnesses said.
    Violence in Somalia has killed 19,000 civilians since the start of 2007 and uprooted a further 1.5 million people, helping to trigger one of the world's worst humanitarian emergencies.
    Western security agencies say the country has become a safe haven for Islamist militants, including foreign jihadists, who are using it to plot attacks across the region and beyond.
    Uganda and Burundi both have some 2,500 peacekeepers in Mogadishu with the AMISOM force that is protecting sites and Somalia's fragile Western-backed government.
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