SOMALIA: Mogadishu fighting kills at least sixteen

Record ID: 374818

  • Title: SOMALIA: Mogadishu fighting kills at least sixteen
  • Date: 29th April 2010
  • Summary: BABY BEING GIVEN AN INJECTION MAN SHOWING ARM INJURY TWO BODIES LAYING IN MORGUE/ MAN LIFTS SHEET OFF DEAD BOY'S FACE DEAD BOY LAYING IN MORGUE
  • Embargoed: 14th May 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Somalia
  • Country: Somalia
  • Reuters ID: LVA3CBXAAZJ9P5IFT37MFEOLWFMF
  • Story Text: Mogadishu's Madina hospital was swamped by wounded civilians, five of whom died in hospital, after fighting broke out between Islamist insurgents and the Somali transitional federal government (TFG) troops together with African Union (AU) peacekeepers on Tuesday (April 27).
    Residents said at least 11 people died when mortar shells hit a house in the south of the city. Two rebels and a government soldier were killed in fighting near Bakara Market and two AU soldiers were wounded when they stopped a suicide bomber from ramming a truck laden with explosives into their base.
    Rebels from the al Shabaab group exchanged gun fire and artillery shelling with TFG troops and AMISOM peacekeeping troops in a wave of fighting that has rocked the East African nation.
    Scores were wounded in the latest clashes according to the deputy head of Madina hospital.
    "In the last couple of hours, we have received 62 wounded civilians because of the continued fighting and mortar attacks in the area. Five of the wounded died while undergoing medical treatment in the hospital," said Madina Hospital's Deputy Chief Doctor Duniyah Ali.
    Hizbul Islam and al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab are the two main rebel groups in Somalia. Although the two frequently clash in the south of the country for control of strategic towns, they are usually on the same side against the government in the capital.
    Violence in drought-ravaged Somalia has killed at least 19,000 civilians since the start of 2007 and driven a further 1.5 million people from their homes, helping to trigger one of the world's most acute humanitarian emergencies.
    Somalia has had no effective government for 19 years and 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.
    The chaos onshore has allowed pirate gangs to flourish and make millions of dollars from hijacking ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
    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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