Somalia: Fresh clashes leave 25 death, many injured

Published on Monday 7th April 2008

Somalia, Apr 7: Heavy explosion and bomb blasts in several places in Somalia has left 25 killed and scores injured in Somalia.

 

The separate incidents took place in the Belet Weyne town, Baidoa and in Mogadishu's southern district of Daynile in the last 24 hours. Heavy explosion has left 8 soldiers killed and 27 civilians wounded in Belet Weyne, the Hiiraan regional capital in central Somalia, agency reports said. The explosion which rocked the Belet Weyne town on Monday also severely injured the commander of Hiiraan Army Soldiers. The blast took place after Somali Army Convoy was targeted which resulted in fierce gun battle after the explosion. It is reported that the casualties toll will probably rise as the wounded civilians suffer fatal injuries and the clashes continue in the streets of the town. On Sunday, Hiiraan Governor Yusuf Hagar Dabaged threatened to take tough measures against all groups supporting insurgents who are trying to topple the country's interim government. Meanwhile, at least 17 people have lost their lives in fresh violence across Somalia, as a growing campaign of hit-and-run assaults grips the country. Armed men killed more than five people using hand grenades, while seriously injuring 13 others, including the deputy chairman of Bay region in Baidoa on Sunday, in what witnesses say was the worst attack in the war-torn country's south central region. Also in Mogadishu's southern district of Daynile, a heavy explosion killed four government soldiers and two civilians, after an insurgent attacked a tea house with hand grenades. The owner of the tea house was attacked and seriously injured, after she refused to obey insurgents ordering her not to provide services to Somali government and Ethiopian soldiers, Press TV correspondent reports from south Mogadishu. Meanwhile, heavy fighting between al-Shaabab fighters and Puntland soldiers in the Puntland town of Bossaso left three men and a 9-year-old boy dead. Reports added that an army general in Puntland, northeast Somalia, and another soldier were also killed in clashes. The explosion which rocked the Belet Weyne town on Monday also severely injured the commander of Hiiraan Army Soldiers.