Global Arab Network | Heavy fighting in the capital of Somalia

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Heavy fighting in the capital of Somalia

Nearly 45 people were killed and more than 80 others wounded after Somali government forces launched an offensive against opposition insurgent fighters who took a number of key positions in last week's clashes with government forces, officials and witnesses said.

At least four members of al-Shabab, an armed group, and a journalist from Shabelle Radio, a local independent station, were among the victims of Friday's clashes, onlookers indicated.

Farhan Mahdi, a Somali military spokesman, said: "This is a large military offensive against violent people.

"The government will sweep them out of the capital and the fighting will continue until that happens."

The government claims that it has regained control of three areas in Mogadishu - Tarbunka, Bakara and Howlwadag - since the battles began before dawn.

"We were surprised to see men in government uniforms fighting in Bakara," Halima Osman, a Mogadishu resident, told the Reuters.

"They have recaptured four police stations between here and the palace, and they are advancing further."

But al-Shabab rejected the claims of military success.

"The enemy of Allah attacked our positions this morning and our fighters are defending themselves," Sheikh Ali Mahmoud Rage, a spokesman for al-Shabab, said.

"They have not not taken any positions from us."

Reporters confirmed that several bodies had been left on the ground and at least eight civilians injured while trying to escape.

Sources at two Mogadishu hospitals told Reuters that they received a total of 85 wounded civilians on Friday.

Al-Shabab fighters, along with members of other armed opposition groups, have pledged to topple the government of Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the president.

Hassan Mahdi, a spokesman for Hizbul Islam, one of the other groups battling the government, said that troops had struck at their positions too.

"Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam are counter-attacking ... we have pushed them back in some places. There are casualties, but I can't say how many. We are in the middle of fighting," he said.

The government on Friday acknowledged that it was unlikely the negotiations with fighters would prove fruitful.

"The opposition groups have been provoking us for the last three weeks," Mohamed Abdi Gandi, the Somali defence minister, pointed out.

"We shall continue fighting this opposition with foreign ideologies. They want to destroy our government by the use of violence but it will not be."
(AP, Radio Netherlands, Aljazeera, Xinhua)

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