Somalia fighting leaves 23 dead

MOGADISHU (AFP) - Heavy fighting between Ethiopian troops and Islamist insurgents in central Somalia left at least 23 people dead, witnesses and officials said Thursday.

The fighting broke out after insurgents ambushed an Ethiopian military convoy late Wednesday near the village of Garsani, some 300 kilometres (180 miles) north of Mogadishu.

Witnesses said at least 13 civilians and eight Ethiopian soldiers were killed in the fighting. The insurgents admitted to losing two fighters in the battle.

"The fighting was so heavy and our holy warriors with the help of Allah won a huge victory," Sheikh Abdirahin Ise, an Islamist spokesman told AFP. "In return they (Ethiopians) killed pastoralists who were near the fighting zone."

"I have counted bodies of 13 civilians, including four children," said Ibrahim Adan Moalim, a local resident.

The Islamists promised to avenge the killing of Hashi Aden Ayro -- a senior Islamist leader accused of being Al-Qaeda's pointman in Somalia -- in a US airstrike last week.

Ethiopian troops entered Somalia in 2006 to rescue an embattled transitional government. They defeated an Islamist militia which had taken control of large parts of Somalia.

The remnants of the militia have since waged a deadly guerrilla battle against government forces, its Ethiopian allies and African Union peacekeepers, mainly in Mogadishu.

Separately, a truck driver contracted by the World Food Programme was shot dead in central Somalia late Wednesday by a gunman who opened fire at a convoy of trucks ferrying food.

"We condemn this senseless killing and once again urge all parties to ensure the safe passage of humanitarian staff and cargo across the country," Peter Goossens, WFP's director for Somalia said in a statement.

The driver was the second to be killed since February, when militiamen shot dead the leader of a convoy of WFP-contracted trucks in southern Somalia.

A seemingly endless violence in the country has disrupted delivery of aid to hundreds of thousands of civilians uprooted from their homes across the country.

Humanitarian groups are struggling to feed at least two million people in Somalia, which is experiencing a prolonged drought and record high inflation that touched off two days of rioting in the capital this week.

The shattered African nation has been wracked by violence since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre led to a bloody power struggle that has defied numerous bids to restore normalcy.

• Email Story
• IM Story
• Printable View
• Yahoo! Buzz

RECOMMEND THIS STORY

Recommend It:

Not at All Somewhat Moderately Highly Very Highly

Average (Not Rated)

» Recommended Stories