Somali rebels spark fatal clashes

[Burco Boss]

At least four people have been killed and eight injured amid clashes between insurgents and security forces in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
Ethiopian troops used tanks and artillery shelling to battle the gunmen after they attacked the soldiers' base at Somalia's former defence ministry.

Civilians were killed in the crossfire as stray artillery hit nearby homes.

Somali interior minister Mohamed Mahamud Guled confirmed the clashes but could not comment on the death toll.

The civilians died as fighting spilled over into the nearby residential areas of Bar Ubah and Gupta, in southern Mogadishu, with reports that most of those killed were children.

"A mortar shell landed in a house that was near mine," witness Ahmed Gobe told AFP. "It killed one person and wounded two children.

"There were many stray bullets flying around. I cannot confirm other casualties because I cannot get out of the house."

Vow of insurgency

Somalia's government blames insurgents backed by defeated Islamist leaders for a sharp rise in attacks in the past week.

The Islamists ruled much of southern Somalia for six months, before they were driven out of Mogadishu in December.


Mortar attacks killed 16 in Mogadishu earlier this week

Since then they have vowed a guerrilla war and attacks have targeted Ethiopian security forces.

Mogadishu is awash with weapons and the country has been without a central, stable government since dictator Muhammad Siad Barre was ousted in 1991.

Uganda has announced a troop deployment to Somalia that is due to start within the next two weeks.

Uganda will send 1,500 soldiers to serve in the African Union mission which will replace the Ethiopian troops already stationed there, officials say.

The United Nations Security Council approved an 8,000-strong AU force for Somalia but only half that number has been pledged so far.

Somalia's Interim President Abdullahi Yusuf says he will hold a national reconciliation conference in a bid to end the escalating violence.


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