Gunfire Ends Relative Calm in Mogadishu

By SALAD DUHUL
Wednesday, April 11, 2007

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MOGADISHU, Somalia - Ethiopian-backed government troops and Islamic insurgents exchanged gunfire in northern Mogadishu early Wednesday, killing three people and ending more than a week of relative calm in this battle-scarred city, witnesses said.

Stray bullets struck a minibus in the capital and killed three passengers, said Sabumo Hassan Elmi, a witness.

Mogadishu's dominant clan, the Hawiye, had brokered a cease-fire about 10 days ago to end the worst fighting here in 15 years.

Four days of bloodshed that started in late March killed at least hundreds of people _ and possibly more than 1,000. But in recent days, Somali and Ethiopian troops have been closing streets in Mogadishu and digging trenches, raising fears that a fresh bout of violence could be imminent.

"They are exchanging small gunfire since early this morning," Mogadishu resident Abdullah Ali Hassan said Wednesday.

A Hawiye panel reported this week that the recent fighting killed more than 1,000 civilians and wounded 4,300. The estimate was a dramatic escalation in the death toll from the four days of bloodshed. An earlier estimate by a Somali human rights group said more than 1,000 civilians had been killed or wounded.

The U.N. refugee agency says some 124,000 people have fled Mogadishu since the beginning of February.

The fighting started late last month when Ethiopian troops used tanks and attack helicopters in an offensive to crush insurgents.

The insurgents are linked to the Council of Islamic Courts, which was driven from power in December by Somali and Ethiopian soldiers, accompanied by U.S. special forces. The U.S. has accused the courts of having ties to al-Qaida.

The militants reject any secular government, and have sworn to fight until Somalia becomes an Islamic emirate.

Somalia has been mired in chaos since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned against each other. A national government was established in 2004, but has failed to assert any real control.

Source: AP, April 11, 2007

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