A car explosion killed at least four people in the restive Somali capital as three others, including a policeman, were gunned down in violence which has surged since the toppling of an Islamist movement late last year. Police said the four travelling in the car were all killed when their vehicle exploded in Mogadishu's Tawfiiq neighbourhood. | "Mahmoud! This road's pretty bumpy! What if this dynamite goes off?" "Don't worry about it. I've got lots more in the trunk!" |
| "Could be C4, could be dynamite, could be plastique, could be lotsa things." |
| Police said the four travelling in the car were all killed when their vehicle exploded. |
Hours later, two people were killed and three wounded when government forces came under fire from unidentified gunmen. "Heavy fire was exchanged and two people, one of them a woman, was killed," said a witness, Zakariye Mohamed.
On Saturday, at least one person was killed and 12 others injured when a mortar shell landed on a camp housing displaced people in the capital's port area.
Residents have rallied to protest the presence of the Ethiopian troops, some of whom began withdrawing last month, though many of the demonstrations have turned violent. The Islamists, who brought a semblance of order in Mogadishu and other areas they controlled in central and southern Somalia, have disbanded into clan militia. But some of them have vowed to fight the government and a planned African Union peacekeeping force.
The AU plans to deploy an 8,000-strong force but has so far only managed to raise half that number. The 53-member bloc has been hamstrung by disagreements, as well as funding and manpower problems. The body's officials have hinted that Nigeria, Burundi, Malawi and Ghana may contribute forces.