Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu)
February 10, 2007
Aweys Osman Yusuf
At least seven persons were killed and dozens were wounded in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Saturday after mortars and rockets rained down on the capital as unknown gunmen fired more than 10 mortars at different locations in the capital. Witnesses said four persons, including a young girl, were killed in Dayniile district, southwest of Mogadishu.
(..)
Mohammed Ahmed Siad, the director of Mogadishu airport, has told Shabelle that three mortars exploded inside the airport. He said there were no casualties. "The operation of the airport is continuing smoothly. The explosions have not obstructed the airport operations and they have not damaged anything," he said.
Witnesses said a two-year-old child was killed by a mortar that exploded in a neighborhood near the airport.
Witnesses, who asked not be named in fear for their security, told Shabelle reporter Raage that Ethiopian troops based near Ex-Control, south of the capital, responded the attacks by firing several rockets at Daynile district after unknown gunmen launched propelled grenades towards the Ethiopian military positions.
Mortars also hit Kaah hotel in north Mogadishu where government officials, clan chiefs and traditional elders were having a workshop intended to clear the way for a national reconciliation conference. Two people were killed in the area. A vendor sitting before her small near the hotel has instantly died after an explosion, while a policeman guarding the hotel shot dead a man onboard a pickup truck.
The situation in the neighborhoods where today's rockets hit is tense, as some people fled the areas to another neighborhood in the capital.
Mogadishu's acting mayor, Ibrahim Shawiye, who spoke with the press after the incident, said the police were tracking down the unknown assailants.
No one has yet claimed responsibility.
On Friday, a demonstration organized by a group of ten men, wearing turbans on their faces, took place on the northern edge of the capital.
The men called themselves "The Somali People's Resistance Movement" and claimed they were responsible for the series of mortar attacks against the Ethiopian and government military bases in the capital, threatening they would continue until all Ethiopians leave Somalia.
A man disguised himself, who gave his name as Abdirizak, delivered a speech to several hundred demonstrators, warning that countries intending to send peacekeepers to Somalia to fathom the series of rocket and mortar attacks against the Ethiopians in the country as a message. "If Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and Malawi send troops to Somalia, they must know that here will be their graveyard," he shouted.
The flags of several countries, including the U.S., that support the peacekeeping operation for Somalia were set on fire by angry demonstrators.
A dead man lies in Medina hospital, south of Mogadishu after a mortar bomb exploded at his residence.
A young boy is seriously wounded by Saturday's mortar explosions in the capital.
Bloodstain is everywhere in this mortar hit house as neighbors gather to help the victims.
A young girl was killed in this house in Daynile district, southwest of Mogadishu, after mortar bomb hit it.
Mogadishu residents blame the Ethiopian troops for firing several rockets at residential areas in the capital where a young girl was killed, while responding the mortars fired by unknown gunmen.
February 10, 2007
Aweys Osman Yusuf
At least seven persons were killed and dozens were wounded in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Saturday after mortars and rockets rained down on the capital as unknown gunmen fired more than 10 mortars at different locations in the capital. Witnesses said four persons, including a young girl, were killed in Dayniile district, southwest of Mogadishu.
(..)
Mohammed Ahmed Siad, the director of Mogadishu airport, has told Shabelle that three mortars exploded inside the airport. He said there were no casualties. "The operation of the airport is continuing smoothly. The explosions have not obstructed the airport operations and they have not damaged anything," he said.
Witnesses said a two-year-old child was killed by a mortar that exploded in a neighborhood near the airport.
Witnesses, who asked not be named in fear for their security, told Shabelle reporter Raage that Ethiopian troops based near Ex-Control, south of the capital, responded the attacks by firing several rockets at Daynile district after unknown gunmen launched propelled grenades towards the Ethiopian military positions.
Mortars also hit Kaah hotel in north Mogadishu where government officials, clan chiefs and traditional elders were having a workshop intended to clear the way for a national reconciliation conference. Two people were killed in the area. A vendor sitting before her small near the hotel has instantly died after an explosion, while a policeman guarding the hotel shot dead a man onboard a pickup truck.
The situation in the neighborhoods where today's rockets hit is tense, as some people fled the areas to another neighborhood in the capital.
Mogadishu's acting mayor, Ibrahim Shawiye, who spoke with the press after the incident, said the police were tracking down the unknown assailants.
No one has yet claimed responsibility.
On Friday, a demonstration organized by a group of ten men, wearing turbans on their faces, took place on the northern edge of the capital.
The men called themselves "The Somali People's Resistance Movement" and claimed they were responsible for the series of mortar attacks against the Ethiopian and government military bases in the capital, threatening they would continue until all Ethiopians leave Somalia.
A man disguised himself, who gave his name as Abdirizak, delivered a speech to several hundred demonstrators, warning that countries intending to send peacekeepers to Somalia to fathom the series of rocket and mortar attacks against the Ethiopians in the country as a message. "If Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and Malawi send troops to Somalia, they must know that here will be their graveyard," he shouted.
The flags of several countries, including the U.S., that support the peacekeeping operation for Somalia were set on fire by angry demonstrators.
A dead man lies in Medina hospital, south of Mogadishu after a mortar bomb exploded at his residence.
A young boy is seriously wounded by Saturday's mortar explosions in the capital.
Bloodstain is everywhere in this mortar hit house as neighbors gather to help the victims.
A young girl was killed in this house in Daynile district, southwest of Mogadishu, after mortar bomb hit it.
Mogadishu residents blame the Ethiopian troops for firing several rockets at residential areas in the capital where a young girl was killed, while responding the mortars fired by unknown gunmen.
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