2007: 6 500 killed in Mogadishu
2007-12-31 21:30
Mogadishu - Conflict in Somalia killed
6 501 civilians in the capital Mogadishu in 2007 and wounded
8 516 more, a local human rights group said on Monday.
The Elman Peace and Human Rights Organisation said it had
recorded 1.5 million people uprooted from homes in the city
during a year that began with the toppling of an Islamist
movement that was followed by an insurgency.
The group's chairperson, Sudan Ali Ahmed, blamed Ethiopian
forces supporting the interim Somali government for many of the
civilian deaths.
Residents are often caught in the crossfire as
Ethiopian soldiers battle Islamist-led guerrillas.
'US to blame'
"The international community must intervene in Somali
affairs to force the Ethiopians to get out. At the same time
they must bring a joint international peacekeeping force to
secure the country," Ahmed told a news conference.
He said he believed the United States was funding Ethiopia
to keep its troops in Somalia, and must take some of the blame.
The Horn of Africa nation has been mired in lawlessness
since warlords ousted dictator Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991.
The
transitional government is the country's 14th attempt at
restoring central government since then.