Bartamaha(Nairobi):-The Somali government on Sunday said that it held back concerted rebel attack on its forces’ positions in the north of the capital Mogadishu.

The rebel forces waged the assault on government forces positions in an attempt to over run them but the troops managed to force the fighters back to their strongholds in the north of Mogadishu, Abdelrasak Qaylow, spokesman for Somali Information Ministry told reporters.
The two sides exchanged heavy machine gunfire and artillery in the brief clashes that resumed following Thursday’s fierce fighting between the two sides. “Our forces fought the anti-peace elements with courage and dedication which enabled them to drive them back from their positions after the rebels carried out their aggression against the forces,” said Qaylow.
It was not clear if there were casualties on both sides to the conflict but reports say that several civilians have been injured while others were forced from their homes in the battle areas.
Two African Union (AU) peacekeepers were confirmed dead and a tank destroyed in Thursday’s fighting with Islamist rebel.
The AU forces spokesman in Mogadishu said that the tank caught fire after it developed a technical fault but Islamist rebels claim that they destroyed it and distributed images of the burning tank as well as the charred remains of the AU soldier.
Almost 5,000 AU forces from Uganda and Burundi provide protection to the Somali government which controls only parts of the restive Somali capital Mogadishu.
Islamists run much of south and centre of the war ravaged east African country that has been without a strong central government for the past decade.
Source: Xinhua

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