Fighting rages in Mogadishu

2010-01-29 10:03

Mogadishu - Heavy fighting raged early on Friday in the centre of Mogadishu between Islamist insurgents and soldiers of the African Union's peacekeeping force in Somalia (Amisom).

Artillery exchanges and automatic weapons fire broke out around 02:00 (23:00 GMT on Thursday) and continued through the night. After dying down a little, the violence resumed in full intensity at dawn.

The fighting was concentrated around the strategic K4 junction halfway between the Somali capital's airport and the port.

The Amisom detachment there is made up of a few dozen Ugandan soldiers who regularly come under fire from insurgents.

"Whoever holds K4 controls Mogadishu" is a kind of motto for the African Union peacekeepers who rotate to this dangerous outpost on the edge of the confined area they control in the Somali capital.

"Kilometre Four" in southeastern Mogadishu is where the airport road meets several other key thoroughfares and is a major flashpoint in the war-ravaged seaside city.

There are daily clashes between the Shebab, Somalia's feared al-Qaeda-inspired militants, and Hezb al-Islam on one side and the Amisom troops and pro-government forces on the other, but they are rarely as intense.

Friday's fighting came on the first anniversary of the arrival in power of internationally-backed President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed whose very weak transitional government retains control of a small part of Mogadishu thanks to Amisom’s military support.

- SAPA