6 dead, dozens wounded in in Somali capital gunbattles
November 2, 2007 (MOGADISHU) — Ethiopian troops searching house to house for insurgents fought gunmen Friday, with two dozen people wounded and three Ethiopian troops and three civilians reported dead in the latest battles to hit Somalia’s capital, residents said.
Gunfire raged for about two hours in a southern neighborhood after the entry of hundreds of Ethiopian troops who are fighting on the side of Somali government forces.
“Soon after Ethiopian soldiers started arresting people, residents on their part started to resist them, then a heavy gunbattle erupted,” said Osman Ali Hassan. “I have seen in my own eyes the bodies of three Ethiopians.”
Another resident, Timiro Abdulle, said three civilians also died. The reports couldn’t be independently confirmed.
About 20 civilians wounded during the fighting lay at Mogadishu’s main hospital, said Dahir Dhere, a hospital official. He said seven of the wounded are in critical condition.
On Thursday, the U.N. said nearly 90,000 people have fled Somalia’s capital in three days, a massive upsurge of displacements following the heaviest fighting to shake the rubble-strewn city in months.
The clashes – the worst between Islamic insurgents and Somali and allied Ethiopian troops since April – have emptied entire neighborhoods, sending 88,000 people streaming from Mogadishu over a three-day period starting Oct. 27, the world body said in a statement.
That contrasts with a previous rate of 20,000 to 25,000 people leaving each month, it said.
More than 100 people have been admitted to hospitals with weapons-related injuries in just two days, in addition to more than 3,400 civilians wounded since January, the U.N. said.
Mogadishu has been plagued by violence since government troops and their Ethiopian allies drove out the Council of Islamic Courts in December. For six months, the Islamic group had controlled much of southern Somalia, and remnants have vowed to fight on. Thousands of civilians have been killed in the fighting this year.
According to the U.N., some 1.5 million Somalis are now in need of food aid and protection – 50% more than at the start of the year – because of inadequate rains, continuing internal displacement and a potential cholera epidemic, the U.N. said. Some 450,000 Somalis have fled their homes this year, bringing the total number of displaced people to 800,000, the U.N. said Thursday.
Somalia hasn’t had a functioning government since 1991, when rival warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each other.
(AP)