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Somalia Unrest Killed five |
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Somali -
Somali News
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Monday, 24 March 2008 |
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Mogadishu, March 23: Fresh violence killed at least five people, including a child on Sunday in the Somali capital, witnesses said.
Witnesses in Somalia's capital say four people were killed when armed men attacked a group of government soldiers at Dabka intersection in Mogadishu. Three of those killed were soldiers, while one civilian, reportedly a doctor, was killed in the crossfire.
"I saw armed men opening fire at policemen at Debka interception. Three policemen and a doctor who worked in a clinic nearby were killed," witness Farah Hasan Sahal told agencies in southern Mogadishu agency reports said.
The policemen were targeted but the doctor was killed by a stray bullet, said Mohamed Ali Yare, a bus driver.
In another incident in southern Mogadishu, Somali forces opened fire, killing a two-year-old child and wounding his mother, a witness told AFP.
"No one is quite sure who they were shooting but what I saw was a two-year-old child killed by the bullets and his mother injured," said Hanad Guled, another witness.
The latest violence took place as Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein was meeting with opposition clan elders to discuss his plans for reconciliation.
Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein met clan elders in a bid to accelerate his recently-outlined peace plan.
"The prime minster is meeting with opposition clan elders to discuss them with his new plans for reconciliation, may be, this will lead to a broad peace talks," an elder told AFP.
Over the past year, the city has been rocked by almost daily violence pitting Ethiopian-backed Somali forces against Islamist insurgents.
The guerrilla fighting has killed hundreds of civilians and forced tens of thousands to flee.
The insurgency began after a joint Somali-Ethiopian offensive drove a militant Islamist movement from power in southern Somalia in late 2006. |
Somali News