July 23 (Bloomberg) — At least 18 people died and 50 were wounded in clashes between Somali government forces and Islamist rebels in the capital, Mogadishu, witnesses and officials said.
The fighting began yesterday after evening prayers when insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns at an African Union base near Dabka Junction in the south of the city, Bile Aweys Mohamed, a resident of the area who witnessed the event, said in an interview. African Union peacekeepers aided government soldiers in the fighting, he said.
“I ran away and hid in my home,†Mohamed said. “The fighting was heavy with both sides exchanging machine-gun fire and mortar shells.â€
At least 10,000 people have been forced to flee Mogadishu since May, when Islamists opposed to President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed began an offensive in the city, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. The rebels already control most of southern and central Somalia following a two- year war.
The African Union Mission in Somalia, or Amisom, has 3,750 peacekeepers in Somalia, 2,050 from Uganda and 1,700 from Burundi, according to its Web site.
Ali Muse Sheikh Mohamoud, a paramedic who works for Lifeline Africa, said he had seen at least 50 wounded people, most of whom were treated for shrapnel injuries.
“This is the worst shelling in months,†he said.
Islamist fighters in Somalia are grouped under the al- Shabaab militia and the Hisb-ul-Islam movement. The U.S. accuses al-Shabaab of having ties with al-Qaeda. Hisb-ul-Islam is led by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the former head of the Islamic Courts Union that captured most of southern Somalia in 2006 before being ousted by U.S.-backed Ethiopian troops.
Somalia hasn’t had a functioning central administration since the overthrow of Mohamed Siad Barre, the former dictator, in 1991.
Source: Bloomberg
By Hamsa Omar
To contact the reporter on this story: Hamsa Omar in Mogadishu via Johannesburg at .
