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31 Somalis killed in 24 hours
14/08/2007 19:41 - (SA)
Mogadishu - Heavy fighting between Somali government forces backed by Ethiopian troops and insurgents in Mogadishu has killed at least 31 Somalis and wounded 60 in the past 24 hours, a local human rights group said on Tuesday.
"The killings were from gunshots and explosions in different
parts of the city," said head of Elman Human Rights Group, Sudani Ali Ahmed.
"It is totally unacceptable and ... against human rights."
In one incident, Ethiopian soldiers opened fire on a bus full of civilians, killing 10 people and wounding several others, Ahmed said.
"This was the most ugly attack," Ahmed said. "Six people died instantly and another 14 were wounded, four of whom died from their wounds."
'Baghdad-style'
Ethiopia denied carrying out the bus attack.
"This is a baseless accusation, as usual," said Ethiopian
Information Ministry spokesperson Zemedhun Tekle. "We would never open fire on civilians like this."
As the violence in Mogadishu intensified, Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said on Tuesday he was seeking to create a Baghdad-style "Green Zone" in the city to protect officials and foreign visitors from insurgent attacks.
Hundreds have been killed by mortar and rocket attacks and
firefights in Mogadishu since Somalia's Ethiopian-backed interim
government ousted Islamist fighters in December, sparking an
insurgency that has forced hundreds of thousands to flee.
Additional reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse in Addis Ababa
- Reuters
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