|
|
Somalia: 17 villagers killed in clashes -witnesses
Fri. May 09, 2008 07:33 am.- By Bonny Apunyu. -
(SomaliNet) In an attack that witnesses said killed two soldiers and two policemen, Islamist fighters seized the police headquarters at the heart of the government's stronghold in Mogadishu on Thursday.
Witnesses could her them firing rocket-propelled grenades and heavy submachine guns.
Thursday's raid was their first major success. Meanwhile, the insurgents have tried many times to attack the heavily guarded K4 district.
The attack came a day after a bloody Wednesday in the Horn of Africa nation. Insurgents attacked Ethiopian military convoys in two rural areas Wednesday, and the soldiers responded by opening fire on civilians, killing at least 17 villagers, witnesses said.
However, it was not known how many Ethiopians died in that fighting. The insurgents said one of their regional commanders was killed.
In a separate incident, a roadside bomb killed three Somali soldiers Wednesday, a military officer said. A separate attack on a World Food Program convoy in central Somalia killed one of the organization's drivers, U.N. officials said.
In Mogadishu on Thursday, witnesses said, an explosion rocked Makalal Mukrama Road outside the police headquarters in K4 district and plumes of black smoke rose into the night air after fighters set ablaze a captured "technical" — a pickup truck with a submachine gun fixed to its bed.
The blast came after the insurgents seized the police station, yelling "God is great," witnesses said.
"The fighting was hideous, terrifying," said resident Hawa Abdi. The gunfire was so heavy that "I thought it would smash the walls of my concrete home."
Elmi Osman, another resident of the area, said bullets crashed through the window of the house where he lives, killing his aunt and a nephew.-Herald Tribune
News Category: Somalia
Latest Headlines
|
News 
