[DEBATE] : Helicopters fire on Somali market

[Riaz K Tayob]

  Helicopters fire on Somali market
Ethiopian helicopter gunships have fired at a market near an insurgent 
stronghold in the Somali capital.

The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu says hundreds of insurgents 
armed with rocket launchers and machine guns are battling Ethiopian troops.

Ethiopian tanks are also deployed. Crowds dragged several dead bodies in 
uniform through the streets.

The security crackdown in the south of the city is being billed as a 
three-day operation to restore order.

Meanwhile, Ethiopia says two-thirds of its troops have withdrawn from 
Somalia.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told parliament the rest of his 
troops, which are deployed in support of the interim government, would 
leave in consultation with the African Union.

Ethiopian troops helped install the government last December but have 
been gradually handing over responsibilities to the AU force that was 
deployed to Mogadishu this month to try and bring stability to the city.

Some 1,700 Ugandan troops are in Mogadishu as the advance party of a 
planned 8,000 strong AU force.

No-go zone

In a dawn operation, at least six people died in the fighting which 
broke a ceasefire declared a week ago and was brokered by elders form 
the Hawiye clan - the biggest in Mogadishu - but Ethiopia denied 
reaching any deal.

Ethiopian tanks, troops and helicopters are trying to take control of 
five key junctions.

	This is the worst fighting Mogadishu has seen since the Islamists were 
ousted
Zenaib Abubakar
Mogadishu resident
The militia responded with heavy artillery fire.

The southern part of Mogadishu, where the fighting is going on, has 
become a no-go zone.

Dozens of injured civilians are stranded, as heavy fighting has grounded 
public transport and other business activity in the Somali capital.

"This is the worst fighting Mogadishu has seen since the Islamists were 
ousted. Explosions can be heard all over the city and many people are 
just holed up in their homes," resident Zenaib Abubakar told the BBC 
Somali Service.

Ms Abubakar said heavy shelling is taking place near the main stadium, 
where Ethiopian and government troops are battling with insurgents who 
are putting up heavy resistance.

"It's difficult to tell how many people have been injured or killed 
because fighting is taking place in several parts of the capital and 
communication today is not very good," said another resident, Ahmed Noor.

The interim government has blamed the escalating violence in the capital 
on remnants of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC).

Somalia enjoyed a six months lull in the insecurity that had dogged the 
country in the past 16 years, when the UIC took power last year.

But insecurity has returned to the city.

The UN estimates that 40,000 people have fled Mogadishu since February.

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Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/6506071.stm

Published: 2007/03/29 09:42:28 GMT

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