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Somali fighting toll climbs to 33
 At least 15 people were killed and 23 wounded Tuesday in fighting between gunmen loyal to warlords controlling the Somali capital and Islamic court security militia, witnesses and medical sources said. This brings the death toll to 33 and dozens wounded since the clashes erupted on Saturday, pitting gunmen backed by the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) a coalition of warlords against Islamic court militia along a road in southern Mogadishu's Daynile district, they said. "The fighting intensfied afternoon killing 13 people. The wounded are more than 23," Mohammad Daud, former militia commander, told AFP. Two other civilians, including a child, were killed by stray rounds earlier in the day, according to a witness, who asked to remain unnamed for security reasons. Eight of the 15 dead were fighters from rival sides, according to militia sources. Residents of the bullet-charred capital described the fighting as the heaviest in five years and a witness said the battlefield was "full of blood and it is very scary." Tuesday's fighting, in which militiamen deployed rocket-propelled grenade launchers, heavy machineguns, small caliber guns and mortars, forcing several hundreds of terrified town-dwellers to flee the battlezone to relatively peaceful areas. Eighteen people have been killed in the last three days at least six flatbed trucks mounted with anti-aircraft and machineguns destroyed. The rival camps are fighting over the control of the 21 October Road, named after the day when dictator Mohammad Siad Barre came to power in 1969, where a massive military barracks, academy and garage are located. "Artillery guns of 85 mm and 105 mm are being used seriously used. The main target of the bombardment was the military academy, military barracks," Daud added. Posted by: Fred 2006-02-22 |
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