Somali attacks claim 8
2007-08-02 10:18
Mogadishu - Gunbattles rocked the Somali capital overnight and mortars slammed into a residential area, killing eight people - including a pregnant woman - and wounding more than 20, said witnesses on Thursday.
The mortars were launched after a 30-minute gunbattle pitting insurgents against Ethiopian troops who were protecting Somalia's fragile government. As in other battles in Mogadishu, civilians were caught in the crossfire.
Mohamed Deeq, who saw two mortars land on his neighbour's house, said: "A mother and two of her daughters were killed, the father was screaming for a help as three of his family members died before his eyes."
Hassan Madobe, another witness, said a pregnant woman also was among the dead.
Mogadishu had seen little peace since December, when the Ethiopian troops supporting Somalia's fragile government drove out a radical Islamic group that had seized control.
The defeated Council of Islamic Courts vowed to wage an Iraq-style guerrilla war until the country became an Islamic state.
The government was formed in 2004 with the help of the United Nations, but had struggled to assert any real control. Yusuf Osman Hussein, a police spokesperson, blamed remnants of the Islamic courts for the attacks.
- AP