Garowe Online (Garowe)
23 September 2008
A spokesman for an Islamist guerrilla group waging an insurgency in Somalia claimed responsibility for yesterday's mortar attack on the capital Mogadishu's international airport, Radio Garowe reported Tuesday.
Muktar Robow "Abu Mansur," the spokesman for al Shabaab, told Mogadishu-based media that the mortar attack "killed many soldiers" after an airplane attempted to land at Aden Adde International Airport.
African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) peacekeepers protecting the airport responded with an artillery barrage and the Gallad Airlines plane from Puntland landed safely.
At least 32 people were killed in some of the worst bombardment in Mogadishu, as street battles raged between al Shabaab insurgents and Ethiopian-backed government forces and AMISOM peacekeepers.
Abu Mansur said Mogadishu's airport is "used for military purposes and to transport weapons" to the Somali government and its military allies, underscoring the guerrilla group's decision to target the airport with mortars.
Mogadishu-based business groups and the Islamic Courts movement have publicly opposed al Shabaab's decision to target the airport, which has practically brought commercial flights to a virtual standstill since September 16.
"The Djibouti peace talks is not in the Somali people's interest," the al Shabaab spokesman said, adding that it is intended to "weaken the jihad" in Somalia.
Delegations from the Somali government and its political opposition ended three-day talks in Djibouti over the weekend, after disagreeing on a security clause calling for Ethiopian troops to be withdrawn from major towns. [ READ: Somalia peace conference ends in dispute]
Hundreds of civilians were reported to be leaving some of Mogadishu's heavy-hit neighborhoods, including Hodan and Howlwadaag districts where many civilians were killed during Monday's bombardment.
"I don't know where we are going, but we have to flee before more shells hit us," said a mother of five fleeing her home in Howlwadaag.
Another woman, Muhubo Omar, told Radio Garowe that she is fleeing to Elasha Biyaha camps in the southern outskirts of Mogadishu, adding: "This is the second time I am fleeing Mogadishu and there is no place for me to stay ahead of me."
African Union peacekeeper on watch
Vehicles loaded with household goods and family members could be seen on Mogadishu's streets, as fear gripped locals following yesterday's violence.
Business at the notorious Bakara Market was reportedly slow today, with shopowners and consumers alike mindful of another bombardment of the country's largest marketplace.
Upwards of 700,000 people fled Mogadishu since the beginning of the anti-Ethiopia insurgency in January 2007, according to UN figures.
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