By Aweys Osman Yusuf

Mogadishu 21, July.07 (Sh.M.Network)- One person was killed and number of other people has been wounded after Ethiopian [Woyanne] troops opened fire at a crowd of Somalis in Yaqshid neighborhood, north of the capital, Mogadishu, on Saturday.

Witnesses said the incident happened after unknown gunmen hurled a grenade at the Woyannes passing around Arafat Hospital in the neighborhood. The blast occurred at 1: 30 p.m. local time.

“A Woyanne convoy was moving along the street and suddenly a grenade was thrown at them and the explosion sparked confusion among the troops. They opened fire at every direction,” said Mohammed Aden, a witness.

He said a civilian, who was selling Khat was killed by the crossfire, while unidentified number of others were wounded.

The Woyanne troops sealed off the area and began searching the houses near by for the insurgents and weapons, witnesses said.

Also two civilians have been killed and three others have been wounded after three grenade explosions targeting government soldiers based in Mogadishu’s Bakara market occurred minutes of one another on Saturday.

Witnesses said the blasts occurred minutes of one another.

A government official killed overnight

Unknown gunmen killed the chairman of Hodan district in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, last night. The victim was in his drugstore doing his private business when unknown gunmen shot him dead.

Abdirahman Hussein was shot eight times by the gunmen, according witnesses in the district.

Mohammed Hassan, Shabelle reporter who lives in the district, told Shabelle that at least three men armed with pistols and one AK 47 gun made their way into the victim’s pharmacy and started shooting.

“Abdirahman Hussein, Hodan district commissioner, was selling medicine to his customers, when the gunmen shot him dead at 8: 10 p.m. local time. The attackers steadily walked away without confronting the government soldiers in the area,” he said.

Several district commissioners have been assassinated in the capital since the Ethiopian led massive military offensive ousted the Union of Islamic Courts that ruled swathe of southern Somalia, including Mogadishu, and enabled the Western backed transitional government to move in to the capital.

On Thursday, six civilians were killed after insurgents fired several mortar bombs at neighborhoods closer the venue of the country’s national reconciliation congress. Witnesses told Shabelle that the venue was not hit.

Abdiwahab Ogli, a resident in Shibis neighborhood, told Shabelle that five young boys were killed in the blast while they were playing football in the neighborhood.

“One mortar bomb hit our residence, killing five young boys, three brothers and their two friends. They were right outside their home when the bomb hit there. The family members and the neighbors were busy collecting the bodies of their loved ones,” he said.

He also stated that number of other people has been wounded.
Also the capital’s biggest open-air market, Bakara, has been closed for 17th day despite traders’ appeal to U.S. and the international community to interfere the situation and to talk to the interim government in order that the embargo on Bakara be lifted.

The Somali government believes that the market was a hideout and financial source for the suspected Islamist insurgents.

Source: Shabelle Media Network Somalia

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