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| Africa North |
| 18 civilians killed in Somali clashes |
| 2010-11-28 |
| [Iran Press TV] Fresh festivities between al-Shaboobs and African Union (AU) troops have left at least 18 civilians dead and more than 30 others injured in Somalia. Heavy festivities erupted in the capital Mogadishu on Saturday, a Press TV correspondent reported. An artillery shell fell on a crowded market as the two sides exchanged heavy fire. Hundreds of people have reportedly decamped from the Bakaara market. Al-Shabaab accuses African Union troops -- backing Somalia's transitional government -- of invading the country. The fighters say they will continue their battles until the AU forces withdraw from Somalia. On Wednesday, the AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia confirmed that its troops shot and killed at least two civilians and injured several others in Mogadishu. It described the shooting as accidental and apologized for the deaths. The AU peacekeeping force, which has been in Somalia to prop up its Western-backed government, has long been accused of killing civilians in the African nation. The Somali government controls only a few areas around the presidential palace. The peacekeepers, however, claim that they have made advances in the Somali capital over the past months. For months, Mogadishu has been the scene of daily battles between government forces and local fighters -- both of whom are trying to take control of the capital. Somalia has lacked a functioning government since 1991 when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Over the past two decades, up to a million people have bit the dust in fighting between rival factions and due to famine and disease. There are more than 1.4 million internally displaced people in Somalia. Over 300,000 of this uprooted population are sheltering in Mogadishu, alone. Most of the displaced live in squalid conditions in makeshift camps in southern and central Somalia, according to the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society High Commissioner for Refugees. |
| Posted by:Fred |