SOMALIA: Residents grieve after several civilians are killed in an Islamist rebel attack on African Union forces in Mogadishu

Record ID: 376723

  • Title: SOMALIA: Residents grieve after several civilians are killed in an Islamist rebel attack on African Union forces in Mogadishu
  • Date: 9th May 2012
  • Summary: U.N. OFFICIAL TALKING TO INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS
  • Embargoed: 24th May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Somalia
  • Country: Somalia
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVARO5WPDV0C4KLPN8XI71SODCK
  • Story Text: Islamist rebels armed with mortars and machine guns attacked African Union (AU) forces in Somalia's capital Mogadishu overnight, sparking a battle that killed at least nine people, officials and residents said on Tuesday (May 8).
    The al Shabaab militants, who are allied to al Qaeda, were forced out of most of the city last year but have kept up sporadic bomb and suicide attacks.
    Al Shabaab fired shells towards the Burundi troops in Daynile district in Northern Mogadishu, but missed their positions and hit residential houses.
    Witnesses said shelling from the fighting hit two houses, killing at least seven civilians, four of them from one family.
    As people gathered to collect the bodies and offer prayers, a neighbour of the deceased recounted what had happened overnight.
    "Now you see, our neighbours' families died last night when artillery shelling landed behind their home. We are very shocked and sad to see this tragedy." Said Amina Ali.
    There were also unverified reports that several Al Shabaab militiamen were killed in the attack.
    The attacks took place in the middle of the night, and most of the casualties were members of three families living in close proximity.
    Relatives took away the dead for burial as residents looked on.
    "In total seven people died here from three different families, and seven others were wounded. And this is a very sad story, especially when I see my cousin and his family are all lying here dead," said Mahamed Ali.
    No one was immediately available to comment from al Shabaab.
    Meanwhile a UN delegation visited an internally displaced camp in Mogadishu to assess requirements for the residents who fled from areas of insecurity where the conflict is still continuing.
    Al shabaab has waged a bloody five-year campaign to topple Somalia's Western-backed government and impose its harsh interpretation of Islamic law (sharia).
    The rebels continue to hold swathes of central and southern Somalia but are being squeezed out of some areas by Kenyan and Ethiopian troops, which have launched incursions inside Somalia in support of the beleaguered government.
    Somalia has been mired in chaos since warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
    The overnight fighting took place in Mogadishu's northern Daynile district, the rebels' last position after they withdrew from the capital last year, under pressure from AU's AMISOM peacekeeping mission in Somalia and Somali government troops.
    Daynile has been the scene of some of the heaviest fighting in Mogadishu. In October, the AU said it had lost 10 Burundian peacekeepers in fighting there, but Reuters witnesses said they saw a significantly higher number of bodies.
    The African troops are keen to keep their hold on the district to help them launch an offensive against the nearby rebel strongholds of Elasha, Lafole and Afgoye.
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