By Aweys Yusuf and Abdi Sheikh
MOGADISHU, Jan 17 (Reuters) – At least 13 people were killed and 75 wounded in heavy fighting in the Somali capital on Thursday in the latest confrontation between Ethiopian Woyanne troops and Islamist-led insurgents, witnesses said.
Fighting between insurgents and the interim government backed by Ethiopian Woyanne forces broke out in the Somali capital more than a year ago, plunging the city into bloodshed in which more than 6,500 have been killed and 600,000 have fled their homes.
Residents said Ethiopian Woyanne army units based in north Mogadishu had marched to the sprawling Bakara market on Thursday, where insurgents confronted them, prompting fierce gun battles and exchanges of mortar rounds.
“I saw two dead Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers lying in the middle of the road. There were also two Somalis wounded in the crossfire,” witness Abdi Ahmed told Reuters by phone.
The Somali government and Ethiopia Woyanne believe Bakara — the city’s biggest market — is a hotbed of insurgents, and have routinely attacked it while carrying out sweeps for insurgents.
Hassan Abdikafi, a kiosk owner in Bakara, said Ethiopian Woyanne tanks had fired into the crowded market.
“Four dead people are lying inside the market. I can also see nine wounded people. The Ethiopian Woyanne forces have occupied Blacksea area and they are firing their tank guns towards the market,” Abdikafi said.
Mortar rounds killed six people and wounded four, witnesses said. “Two mortar rounds hit two homes next to each other. The first one killed five people from the same family and the other one killed one person, wounding at least four others,” resident Sahra Hashi told Reuters.
Officials at Madina Hospital said one woman died in the operating theatre, and 75 people — including 15 children — had been admitted with serious injuries.
The interim government took over Mogadishu in the last days of 2006 with the help of Ethiopian Woyanne armour and air power, unseating an Islamist movement that had challenged its authority with a six-month reign over most of southern Somalia.
The government has moved back into Mogadishu but has never fully controlled the city and fighting erupts regularly, often when insurgent attacks prompt Ethiopian Woyanne and Somali troops to assault neighbourhoods regarded as pro-Islamist.
(Writing by Aweys Yusuf, Editing by Bryson Hull and Tim Pearce)
3 thoughts on “Woyanne tanks fire into a crowded market in Mogadishu”
Associated Press Writer
Posted: 16 minutes ago 1701008
MOGADHISU, Somalia — Islamic militants fired mortar shells and guns in the Somali capital on Thursday, sparking crossfire with Ethiopian troops and their Somali government allies that killed at least 20 people, witnesses said.
Mogadishu residents said the Ethiopian and Somali forces came under attack by Islamic insurgents in the south of the city, sparking mortar and artillery battles that killed six civilians and wounded ten. Four Ethiopian and two Somali soldiers were among the dead, witnesses said.
A radical Islamic group that was driven from power a year ago by a Western-supported offensive is making a significant comeback in Somalia and the government can do little to stop it, government officials say.
Mohamed Haji, a resident who lives near an Ethiopian base in a football stadium in the south of the city, said insurgents had attacked the Ethiopians with rocket-propelled grenades and mortars when they tried to leave their base. He saw two dead Ethiopian soldiers, he said. Another resident, Khadar Nuure, said she also saw two dead Ethiopian troops and two dead Somali government troops.
Shamso Sheikh Nor said that when the Ethiopians began returning mortar and artillery fire, three of her neighbors were killed and one was wounded when a shell landed on their house.
Said Mohamud Dhore said three of his neighbors had also been killed when their house was shelled in a different neighborhood.
Another three people were killed in a separate neighborhood. Two died when their house was hit by a mortar, and another was killed by stray gunfire, said Hassan Ahmed Rage.
“We heard the gunfire. Mortars landed and we started to flee to a nearby concrete building,” said resident Mahad Farah. “A mortar landed and killed two people who were also running beside me.”
In the city’s main Bakara market, businessman Usman Ga’al said that several mortars had landed and one person had died and five were wounded during the shelling.
Dr. Dahir Dhere at Medina hospital said that 15 people had been brought for treatment in total. Four of them had died, he said, bringing the death toll to 20.
In a separate incident, five people were wounded after blasts targeted an Ethiopian army convoy moving between Mogadishu and Afgoye, 18 miles to the west, said resident Abdi Mohamed. A bodyguard at Hawa Abdi hospital who declined to give his name for security reasons said that one of the wounded later died.
Somalia has not had an effective central government since 1991. Thousands of Somalis were killed last year in fighting between Islamic insurgents and the shaky transitional government and its Ethiopian allies. The insurgents vowed to fight an Iraq-style insurgency after their brief hold on parts of southern Somalia was broken by Ethiopian troops in December 2005.
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abshir from somalia
ጦርነቱን ለማቆም በአለም ዙርያ የሚኖሩ ሱማሊዎችና እዉነተኛ
ኢትዮጵያዉያኖች በአስቸኩዋይ ዉይይት በያሉበት መጀመር አለባቸው
መንግስት እንደሆነ ካለጦርነት መኖር
አይችልም በአመራር ላይ ያሉት ሰዎች
በሰላም ኖረዉ ስለማያውቁ ህዝቡን
መማገዳቸዉ ወደፊትም ቢሆን አይቀርም
It is not only the somaliians who are suffering of his war. We Ethiopians are also suffering. So we have to think and take very effective and fast measure.