Bartamaha (Mogadishu):-Fighting between Somali government forces and Islamist insurgents in Mogadishu killed seven people, shattering a week-long lull in the violence, medics and officials said Wednesday.

Four people were killed and 26 wounded late Tuesday when the Al Qaeda-linked Shebab rebels attacked government troops, sparking an exchange of mortar fire, while three others were killed in a roadside bomb blast.

“Two people, one of them a Somali government official, were killed in a roadside bomb attack which hit a group of people performing cleaning activities in Bondhere neighbourhood,” Mohamed Abdullahi Arig, a regional spokesman, said.

“A suspected insurgent fighter who had a remote control with him was also shot by the security forces after the explosion, which also injured eight civilians,” he told AFP.

He said the explosive device was in a plastic bag concealed in a pile of rubbish and added that the official was a junior member of the district administration.

A brief skirmish broke out late Tuesday when insurgents attacked government forces in the Shantaged area, drawing mortar fire that caused four civilian casualties in the Shebab stronghold of Bakara.

Ali Muse, who heads Mogadishu’s ambulance services, said two of the victims died of their wounds in his vehicles as they were being rushed to hospital.

“Twenty-six other people were wounded when the shells crashed into the neighbourhood,” he said.

Mohamed Adan, a local resident who had three relatives wounded in the incident, said he saw two dead bodies after the explosions.

Accounts from other witnesses corroborated the death toll.

The last major clash in Mogadishu took place on July 27 when fighting pitting the insurgents against government troops backed by African Union forces broke out in the Taleh neighbourhood, killing at least 17.

Rebels have been relentlessly attacking the regular security forces and the contingent in a bid to overrun the few blocks housing the embattled western-backed government and complete their power grab.

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Source:AFP.

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