At least 15 people were killed, 25 wounded and hundreds displaced north of the Somali capital on Wednesday, bringing the total number of dead in three days of clashes between rival gunmen to 29, witnesses and medical sources said.
An AFP journalist at the scene of the clashes in Mogadishu’s Abdul Aziz residential district said fighting was fiercer on Wednesday than the previous two days and had spread well beyond its original flashpoint.
”Seven people died in hospital in Mogadishu and four bodies were collected from the battle zone in Abdul Aziz district. About 25 people have been wounded,” said a Somali nurse who did not want to be named. Elders said four more people died later.
Most of the casualties were civilians, the nurse added.
”Wheelbarrows were used as ambulances, carrying the wounded to hospital,” another nurse, Ahmed Abdullahi Yassin, added.
Militia sources said the toll could be much higher.
Attempts on Tuesday night to mediate a ceasefire flopped, but on Wednesday afternoon, prominent chief Muhamoud Ali launched another round of talks to stop the fighting between gunmen from the Abgal clan, elders said.
”If the mediation efforts fail today, then the fighting is likely to involve other clans,” an elder said.
The fighting erupted on Monday afternoon after a lone gunman opened fire on a passing motorist near the capital’s Global hotel, prompting the hotel’s guards to fire back.
The Somali capital has been governed by clan warlords and unruly gunmen and the country has not had a recognised central government since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991.
The lastest clashes are part of several violations of a ceasefire signed by Somali warlords in Kenya in October 2002, shortly after the country’s delegates opened talks to try to restore a government that can return law and order to the war-torn Horn of Africa country.
Despite the complex nature of the talks, foreign ministers from the regional seven-nation Intergovernmental Authority on Development, which is mediating the negotiations, last week indicated that a lasting deal could be clinched by the end of July. — Sapa-AFP