Four Somali soldiers killed in Mogadishu attack

[Hiiraan boy]

Four Somali soldiers killed in Mogadishu attack


Insurgents ambush army truck of soldiers heading to reinforce colleagues in Mogadishu's Suqaholaha district.


MOGADISHU - Four Somali soldiers were killed and several wounded when an army truck was ambushed in the capital, where the government is battling a deadly insurgency, an official and witnesses said Friday.

The soldiers were heading to reinforce their colleagues in Mogadishu's Suqaholaha district overnight when they came under rocket-propelled grenade attack, they said.

"Four of our men were killed and several others wounded when insurgents ambushed them near the Arafat area. I believe the death toll might rise," said an army commander told AFP.

Witnesses confirmed the ambush, the latest in a string of attacks in Mogadishu.

"The vehicle was hit by an RPG shell and I saw it burning down as the forces left the scene at night. It was destroyed about 100 metres (yards) from my house," said Muse Farah.

Resident Abdisalam Adan Mohamed said dozens of heavily armed insurgents poured into the area after government forces left.

Amid escalating violence, residents continued fleeing the areas that have been convulsed by fighting between the government, insurgents and some clan fighters mainly in northern Mogadishu.

"Who can endure a situation where people are killed and harassed everyday?" said Mumino Ali Bashir, a mother of three who was fleeing the Huriwa neighbourhood on Friday.

"I decided to move away from this neighborhood until stability comes back," she added.

"I think this time only cats will be left in the houses because most of the residents fled already and the rest are now leaving," said Haji Abdallah Sugurow, another resident.

Neighbouring Ethiopia's army came to aid the transitional Somali government last year and defeated the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) that had controlled most parts of the country.

The remnants of the ICU have since reverted to guerrilla tactics, launching almost daily hit-and-run attacks against government targets in Mogadishu.

Last week, groups opposed to the Somali government vowed to intensify fighting with the aim of driving out Ethiopian forces, whose presence in Somalia has renewed tensions between the two nations.

The lack of stability and central authority after the fall of the UIC rule has allowed clan-based feuds to erupt and crime to spread in the seaside capital, home to about a million people

[AbdiWahab252]

VIVA THE ALLIANCE FOR THE RELIBERATION of SOMALIA FORCES (ARSF)