Somalia: Mogadishu, scene of violent clashes

By on July 8, 2010
Violent clashes between Islamist insurgents and government forces, but also between rival factions erupted in the Somali capital Mogadishu, killing at least sixteen persons.

The Shehab have pledged allegiance to al-Qaida, and have joined the group Hezb al-Islam in May 2009 to launch a major offensive that the forces of President Ahmed and Unisom were unable to repel. The Islamic rebels are tightening their grip on the front north of Mogadishu, still controlled by the government and the African Union force in Somalia (AMISOM). The shebab harasses the government forces in the districts of the North-East to seize strategic positions in order to tackle the AMISOM bases, and disrupt their supply lines, striking mainly the port.
Somalia has celebrated its fiftieth independence anniversary on last Thursday, but is almost living in an uninterrupted civil war since 1991. For this reason, six East African countries promised to supply 2 000 soldiers to the AMISOM after closure of the extraordinary summit held in Addis Ababa. Deployed in March 2007, AMISOM currently has some 6,000 Ugandan and Burundian soldiers, instead of the 8000 originally planned. This force is responsible for protecting strategic sites in the capital, Mogadishu, as well as the presidency, the port and the airport.

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