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Fighting, mortar attack on Somali mosque kill 39
[Bangla Daily Star] A mortar shell hit a mosque in the Somali capital Mogadishu yesterday, killing at least 14 people and raising to 39 the death toll from fighting between Islamist rebels and government forces that flared up on Thursday.The mosque was hit just as worshippers were filing in for the afternoon prayers, witnesses said. "The mortar shell struck at the gate of the mosque. I counted about 14 people who died instantly and 10 others were wounded," Hassan Abdifatah, a worshipper at the mosque in southern Mogadishu, told AFP. "There was blood and body parts everywhere." Mumin Haji Yusuf, another worshipper, said: "I was inside the mosque when I heard a heavy explosion and shrapnel was flying everywhere killing many people." The fighting -- with both sides using heavy machine guns, artillery and anti-aircraft weapons -- erupted on Thursday, but escalated on Saturday as the two sides clashed over key positions in the war-ravaged Mogadishu. The Islamists said they had taken control of contested areas in southern Mogadishu, but the government dismissed their claim. "We have taken control of the areas we fought over with the enemy of Allah," Sheikh Ali Mohamed, the rebel Islamist official in charge of Mogadishu, told reporters. Seized, he said, were Mogadishu stadium, the defence ministry building and a key road -- a claim confirmed by several witnesses. But at a news conference Information Minister Farhan Mohamoud said the insurgents "did not take any position from the government forces". "This war is led by foreign fighters who want to take control of Somalia," he said. "They waged a full attack on government positions and this is what they had planned in order to overthrow the government." Police, hospital officials and witnesses said nearly 200 people have been wounded in the fighting. Thousands of residents, with belongings on their heads or strapped on their backs, were seen fleeing their homes. Others found themselves trapped amid the fighting. "It was shocking last night here in my neighbourhood -- a mortar hit a house killing four family members on the spot," said resident Husein Mohamed Waberi. Posted by: Fred 2009-05-11 |
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