Fighting resumes in Somali capital, at least five killed
Islamic militias and secular warlords resumed fighting for control of the Somali capital today, killing at least five people and wounding at least 11 others after a five-day lull.
The fundamentalist Islamic militia expanded their control of parts of Mogadishu in the battle that began shortly after morning prayers, capturing a base on a key road linking Mogadishu with Somalia’s central region, said Jamal Ali, who owns a garage in the Cii-Cii neighbourhood.
The radical militia also seized at least five prized trucks mounted with heavy weapons from their rivals.
At least eight dead bodies, mostly civilians, were visible on the battle zone, Ali said.
At least three bodies were taken to the Medina Hospital and another two were at the Keysaney Hospital, said Dr Sheikhdon Salad Elmi, director of Medina Hospital.
Somalia has had no effective government since warlords overthrew long-time dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. They then turned on each other, carving the nation of an estimated eight million people into rival fiefdoms.
