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Somalia: Seven Killed in Mogadishu, Including Family of Six
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Garowe Online (Garowe)
31 December 2007
Posted to the web 1 January 2008
A pregnant mother and her five young children died in overnight Sunday clashes in the Somali capital Mogadishu, the surviving father said today.
A seventh victim who was visiting the home also died when a mortar slammed into the residence, according to the father, Madey Sufi Moallim.
Mr. Moallim said his family recently returned from Elasha Biyaha, a stretch of land between Mogadishu and Afgoye where thousands of families have fled to in recent months, living in makeshift refugee camps.
He said his wife was seven months pregnant, adding that he was not at home when the deadly mortar hit.
Another mortar hit a house near Mr. Moallim's home in north Mogadishu, witnesses said.
Two women, a mother and her daughter, were wounded in the second home.
Other mortars hit military installations in Mogadishu used by Ethiopian troops and African Union peacekeepers, including the international airport and the former ministry of defense building, residents said.
Muktar Robow "Abu Mansur," spokesman for the Al-Shabaab guerrillas waging war on the government, claimed "victory" in last night's clashes.
He said the Al-Shabaab fighters wanted to inflict casualties on the AU peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi, saying that last night such an attack "became possible."
Abu Mansur denied that any of the Al-Shabaab fighters were wounded in Sunday night's attacks.
Capt. Paddy Ankunda, spokesman for the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), dismissed the other side's claim of victory.
He said a group of guerrillas in an armored truck attacked AU peacekeepers at the KM4 junction in central Mogadishu.
"Our soldiers chased away the attackers...and also chased away another group that was launching rockets from the distance," Capt. Andkunda said on Monday.
There was no casualty report about the mortars that hit Ethiopian bases in Mogadishu, including the former ministry of defense building.
Dahir "Dheere" Mohamed, an official at Medina Hospital, told Garowe Online that 25 wounded civilians were admitted to the hospital since Sunday night.
Somalia's government invited Ethiopian troops into the country a year ago to help quell a powerful Islamist movement.
The Islamists have since regrouped and have waged a relentless series of attacks, including assassinations, face-to-face combat, roadside bombings and mortar attacks.
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Mogadishu's Islamist fighters have demanded that all foreign troops, and especially the Ethiopian army, to withdraw from Somalia or they will continue their armed struggle.
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