Four killed in Mogadishu

2008-04-06 20:22

Mogadishu - Four people were killed in the Somali capital in separate attacks during the course of Saturday night, said witnesses on Sunday, as violence raged in the shattered east African nation.

Armed men shot three people in southern Mogadishu's Waberi district and government troops killed a telecommunications worker in the north of the city late on Saturday.

Deeq Ali, a cousin of one of the dead men, said: "Three elderly men were shot as they were heading to the mosque - two of them died in the road and the third one died later of his injuries."

Government forces killed an employee of Hormud Telecoms after suspecting him of being an insurgent fighter, said witness Abdullahi Kahiye, bringing the death toll to four.

In the past year, insurgents have attacked government targets after being ousted from the southern and central regions by Ethiopian-backed Somali troops in early 2007.

The guerrilla fighting has killed thousands and forced hundreds of thousands to flee, mainly from Mogadishu, which was the epicentre of the clashes.

Somalia has lacked an effective government since 1991 when the ousting of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre paved the way for factional clashes that have defied numerous bids to restore stability.

- AFP