Fighting rocked the Somali capital on Thursday, breaking a shaky, days-old ceasefire between insurgents and Ethiopian troops allied to the government, a Reuters witness said.
”We are seeing smoke from explosions,” said Reuters cameraman Farah Roble, who could not leave his office due to gunfire. ”There are helicopters flying around. We have not seen them before.”
In Mogadishu to help the government, the Ethiopians over the weekend agreed to a truce with the city’s dominant Hawiye clan after a week that saw at least 20 people killed, soldiers’ bodies dragged in streets, and a plane crash probably due to a missile.
That fighting was the worst since a war over the New Year to oust militant Islamists and put President Abdullahi Yusuf’s interim government in the capital. The government is the 14th attempt at restoring central rule in the country since 1991.
The African Union has sent 1 200 troops to help pacify Somalia, but they have also been the target of attacks.
It was not clear who was behind Thursday’s flare-up. – Reuters