10 Somalis Killed in Clashes Between Soldiers and Police Forces, June 13, 2010

10 Somalis Killed in Clashes Between Soldiers and Police Forces

June 13, 2010

Fighting Between Somali Police, Soldiers Kills At Least 10

VOA News, 13 June 2010

Officials in Somalia's capital say at least 10 people have been killed in fighting between government troops and police.

The gunbattle broke out Saturday in the Hamarjajab district in the south of Mogadishu. Local officials say the fighting was sparked by an argument between the police and soldiers.

At least 10 civilians were wounded in the incident. Most of those killed are said to be soldiers.

Somalia has endured nearly 20 years of war and chaos since the fall of the last stable government in 1991.

The country's current government is fighting Islamist insurgent groups and controls only small sections of the capital, with the help of African Union peacekeepers.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

Fighting kills at least 12 in Somali capital

Abdi Guled and Ibrahim Mohamed MOGADISHU

Wed Jun 9, 2010 1:35pm EDT

MOGADISHU (Reuters)-

Fighting between government forces and rebels, and a roadside blast Wednesday killed at least 12 people in the Somali capital and wounded 22 others, a medic and residents said.

The anarchic country's U.N.-backed Transitional Federal Government controls just a few blocks of the war-scarred coastal city and its security forces have been fighting to regain Mogadishu's north.

Residents in the first incident said rebels attacked government forces between the president's palace and the main Bakara Market, prompting an exchange of shells and machinegun fire.

"We have so far collected seven dead people and 22 others injured from around Bakara market," Ali Muse, the coordinator of ambulance services, told Reuters.

"Among the dead is a mother. Most of the shells landed in and around the market. Death toll may rise because shelling is still going on."

Somalia has had no effective central government for 19 years and Western efforts to install one to guide the country back to stability have been greatly undermined by an insurgency by al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents and another smaller group, Hizbul Islam.

In another incident, residents said at least five policemen on patrol died and another was wounded in a roadside blast targeting them.

"I could see five dead policemen and another seriously injured. The area was soon sealed off by the government forces. I was passing near the scene when the explosion happened," Hussein Osman, one resident, said.

Government officials and rebels could not immediately be reached for comment.

Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab fighters are trying to hold on to the city's north which puts the presidential palace, known as Villa Somalia, within easy range of their crude mortar rockets.

Al Shabaab, and a second hardline group Hizbul Islam, have been fighting President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's Western-backed government since the start of 2007.

In the last two days, four ministers have resigned. Three stepped down Tuesday, including a defense minister who said he was quitting because the government had failed to fulfill its pledge to restore order.

(Writing by Abdi Sheikh, editing by George Obulutsa and Ralph Boulton)

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