May-24-08
Fighting erupted after rebels attacked a new deployment of Ethiopian forces in Tawfiq district, one of the most volatile zones in the seaside capital.
"The fighting was very heavy, but brief. One civilian was killed and another one wounded," said local Abdi Mohamed Harre. Several witnesses confirmed the toll.
Ethiopian forces, deployed late 2006 to bolster the feeble Somali government alongside their Somali counterparts and African Union (AU) peacekeepers, have been routinely targeted by Islamist insurgents over the past year.
The AU peacekeeping mission can count on just over 2,500 Ugandan and Burundian troops in Somalia, but the deployment falls short of the 8,000 pledged by the pan-African body, and has to-date proved unable to curb the violence.
Source: AFP, May 24, 2008