Photo: Ahmed Yusuf Mohamed/IRIN

A Somali soldier near a building destroyed in recent fighting

MOGADISHU (IRIN) – Armed opponents of Somalia’s transitional government attacked the police in the capital, Mogadishu, on 9 August, carrying out raids on five stations overnight, police said.

“They [insurgents] carried out one of their most deadly attacks last night. They attacked five locations, including Howlwadag police station, a former military base where police officers are stationed, and three other compounds where the police are camped,” the officer told IRIN. A grenade was thrown at another police unit on 10 August, but nobody was hurt, he added.

On the night of 8 August two other policemen were wounded when suspected insurgents fired a rocket at a police station in north Mogadishu, and a civilian was killed in an exchange of gunfire between government forces, backed by Ethiopian [Woyanne] troops, and the insurgents.

More police to be deployed

Abdullahi Hassan Barise, the Mogadishu police chief, said 300 more police would be deployed in the outskirts of north Mogadishu in a bid to prevent militias from carrying out attacks in the city. “We expect to reduce their planned attacks on government positions by stopping them from driving towards their intended targets,” he said.