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Somalis bury dead during lull
03/04/2007 00:05 - (SA)
Mogadishu - Mogadishu residents buried their dead and ventured onto streets for the first time in five days on Monday during a lull in battles pitting Ethiopian and Somali troops against Islamist insurgents and clan militia.
But even as elders from the dominant Hawiye clan insisted a truce was in place, hundreds of Ethiopian reinforcements drove into Mogadishu from other parts of Somalia, said witnesses.
One landmine exploded in south Mogadishu as a government convoy passed and there was sporadic gunfire.
But the coastal capital was generally quieter after four days of ferocious fighting that residents say have killed several hundred people.
The United Nations said 47 000 Somalis have fled Mogadishu in the past 10 days, making a total of 96 000 since February.
"Last night was the first night I have slept since the war started," said a clan militia fighter.
"People see this as a chance to collect their belongings and get out."
'Inflamed the situation'
International reaction to the flare-up in Somalia has been muted, with little from Western capitals beyond vague calls for reconciliation and condemnation of shelling of civilian areas.
The International Contact Group on Somalia, which includes the United States, European and African nations, was due to meet in Cairo on Tuesday.
But analysts said foreign nations were increasingly at a loss how to handle Somalia.
"They've supported African peacekeepers, but that's made no difference. If anything, it's inflamed the situation by giving the Islamists a sitting duck target," said one diplomat.
'Mainly civilians' have died
"Now they're pinning their hope on a reconciliation meeting that looks doomed before it's started," he added of a planned April 16 meeting of elders, politicians and former warlords.
With dozens of rotting bodies still in the streets, it was impossible to calculate an exact death toll from what the Red Cross called Mogadishu's worst fighting in more than 15 years.
Somali reporters have seen scores of dead, Ethiopia says it has killed 200 insurgents, and residents say they believe several hundred people - mainly civilians - have died.
As Somalis stepped out to check damage, find food, and look for family, some began burying corpses virtually where they found them.
"They are digging shallow graves by the road," said local reporter Mohamed Noor Sharifka.
Troops caught in crossfire
In one area that had been an Islamist stronghold, Ethiopian troops occupied the al Hayat hospital since Sunday, said residents.
Medical staff and patients quickly got out, but two employees were still being held there on Monday.
A small African Union (AU) peacekeeping force of about 1 200 Ugandan soldiers has been caught in the crossfire, pinned down at strategic sites like the air and sea ports.
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