SOMALIA: Clashes erupt in Somali capital

Record ID: 375248

  • Title: SOMALIA: Clashes erupt in Somali capital
  • Date: 2nd July 2010
  • Summary: MOGADISHU, SOMALIA (JULY 1, 2010) (REUTERS) BUSY MOGADISHU STREET TRANSITIONAL FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (TFG) FORCES ON ALERT VARIOUS OF TFG FORCES FIRING AT AL- SHABAAB FIGHTERS VARIOUS OF AMISOM TROOPS IN ARMOURED VEHICLE FIRING AT AL SHABAAB FIGHTERS TFG TROOPS GETTING INTO POSITION EXTERIOR OF MEDINA HOSPITAL AMBULANCE CARRYING WOUNDED TFG SOLDIERS ARRIVING AT MEDINA
  • Embargoed: 17th July 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Somalia
  • Country: Somalia
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAYGC1ZV5LQ86QGL40DGH0OJXP
  • Story Text: Government troops alongside African Union peacekeepers exchange shells in Mogadishu with al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels.
    Rebels from the al Shabaab group exchanged gun fire and artillery shelling with TFG troops and AMISOM peacekeeping troops on Thursday (July 1) in a wave of fighting that has eclipsed the East African nation. Rebels are waging an Islamist insurgency against the Western-backed government.
    At least four people have been killed.
    "Today, we have received 44 wounded civilians, 24 of them were hospitalized 9 of them are in very serious conditions and 4 of them died in the hospital before they got surgery," said Medina hospital's deputy chief doctor, Duniyah Ali.
    Somalia has had no effective central government for 19 years and has become a safe haven for Islamist militants and clan fighters. More than 21,000 people have been killed in the violence since the start of 2007 and 1.5 million forced from their homes.
    Mogadishu-based Elman rights group said at least 21 people were killed and 42 wounded in fighting around Somalia on Thursday adding that fighting between clans left 14 people dead and 24 injured in the village of Huldonyale in central Somalia.
    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.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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