Rebels attack airport as president leaves
Artillery battles between Islamist insurgents, Somali government forces and African Union (AU) peacekeepers killed at least 18 people in the capital Mogadishu on Thursday, residents and medical workers said.
Witnesses said the rebels launched volleys of mortar bombs at the city’s international airport as President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed left for a meeting in Uganda, prompting AU soldiers there to respond with artillery fire.
"We have recovered 18 dead bodies and 58 other injured people from Bakara Market and the surrounding areas," Ali Muse, coordinator of the capital’s ambulance service, told Reuters.
"I can say this was the worst such incident recently in Mogadishu. Heavy shelling was hitting civilian populated areas, including Bakara market, Holwadag and Hodan," he said.
Ahmed was not hurt in the exchange of fire, the sources said.
An alliance of the al-Qaeda-inspired Shabaab group and the more political Hezb al-Islam group on May 7 launched a countrywide military offensive aimed at toppling Ahmed, who has largely owed his survival to AMISOM’s protection.
Fighting in Somalia has killed 19,000 civilians since the start of 2007 and driven another 1.5 million from their homes.