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Fresh
violence in Somali capital wounds nearly 100, kills seven |
Jan 17, 2008,
15:26 GMT
Mogadishu - Heavy fighting convulsed the
Somali capital Mogadishu Thursday, as
insurgents battled Ethiopian-backed
government troops, killing at least seven
and wounding nearly 100.
Militias exchanged fire with the troops,
pounding each other with grenades as
civilians were caught in the crossfire.
'We have never seen such an overwhelming
amount of wounded people,' said Dahir
Mohamoud, director of Mogadishu's Medina
hospital, adding that 96 people were injured
in the fighting.
The chaotic, bullet-scarred capital has not
known peace since the ousting of a popular
Islamist group over a year ago by the
transitional government, which sparked a
persistent insurgency that has killed more
than 1,000 and displaced 600,000.
'Two Ethiopian soldiers and two
Ethiopian-trained Somali soldiers were on
the ground near Bar Ubah junction where
thousands of bullets are being sprayed.
Seven others were killed on the spot. I was
shocked,' said Maslah Sidow, 37, who
witnessed the carnage.
Somalia was plunged into anarchy after the
1991 toppling of dictator Mohammed Siad
Barre by warlords who carved the country
into fiefdoms.
The United Nations has called Somalia
Africa's worst humanitarian crisis.
© 2008 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur |
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