Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu)
Abdinasir Mohamed Guled
27 June 2008
Armed Islamic fighters have shot dead up to nine Somali transitional government soldiers in Deynile neighborhood north of Mogadishu an official and witnesses said later Thursday.
Witnesses confirmed the ambush, the latest in a string of attacks in Mogadishu.
Residents said that the attack happened following armed groups attacked at a location near their army where the soldiers were chewing Khat.
At the attack time the soldiers were dressing in usual uniform.
Alshabab Islamic group has claimed the responsibility of that deadly attack.
The government officials who declined to identify because he was not authorized to reveal the incident confirmed Shabelle for the killing.
Else where fierce fighting has rocked in Mogadishu's Tarabunka area which is a base for the government forces later on Thursday residents said.
Various kinds of weapons were used in the fighting.
The fighting has stuck between Islamic fighters and the transitional government forces.
The Islamists are opposed to the transitional government and the presence of Ethiopian forces in Somalia.
Casualties suffered by both sides are unknown and stray bullets have landed in areas far from the fighting wounded two civilians.
Amid escalating violence, residents continued fleeing the areas that have been convulsed by fighting between the government, Islamist insurgents and some clan fighters mainly in northern Mogadishu.
"Who can endure a situation where people are killed and harassed everyday?" said Hadiya Hassan, a mother of three who was fleeing the Huriwa neighbourhood on Friday.
"I decided to move away from this neighborhood until stability comes back," she added.
"I think this time only cats will be left in the houses because most of the residents fled already and the rest are now leaving," said Haji Abdallah Sugurow, another resident.
Ethiopian troops came to the rescue of Somalia's embattled transitional government last year and ousted an Islamist militia that briefly controlled large parts of the country.
Since then, Islamist-led battles have waged daily guerrilla-style attacks in Mogadishu against the government as well as the Ethiopian and the African Union troops protecting it.
Yet so far only 1,600 Ugandan troops and 600 Burundian troops have arrived in Somalia while other contingents -- including more troops from other African countries -- have been delayed by a lack of funds or logistical obstacles.
Somalia has lacked an effective government since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991, touching off a deadly clan-based power struggle that has defied numerous efforts to restore stability.
Violence has raged despite a recent government-sponsored reconciliation conference, which was boycotted by Islamist-led Somali opposition groups.
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