17 killed in Mogadishu battles
2009-10-22 09:29
Mogadishu - Seventeen civilians were killed and 58 people wounded on Thursday in Mogadishu in an exchange of mortar and artillery fire between insurgents and African peacekeepers, medical sources said.
"At least 17 civilians were killed and we have counted 58 wounded," Ali Muse, head of the Somali capital's ambulance services, said.
"I can say this was the worst such incident recently in Mogadishu. Heavy shelling was hitting civilian populated areas, including Bakara market, Holwadag and Hodan," he said.
According to witnesses, the clashes started when insurgent fighters opened mortar fire on the airport as President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was flying out off the country for diplomatic visits.
Sharif was heading to Uganda for an African Union summit on refugees and internally-displaced people and boarding the plane when a hail of mortar shells started raining on the area, police officer Colonel Ali Abdullahi said.
Peacekeepers from the African Union mission in Somalia (Amisom) fired back.
An alliance of the al-Qaeda-inspired Shebab group and the more political Hezb al-Islam group on May 7 launched a countrywide military offensive aimed at toppling Sharif, who has largely owed his survival to Amisom's protection.
The capital had enjoyed a relative lull in violence since the start of October, notably after the two insurgents groups fought against each other in the southern port city of Kismayo.