Calm returns to Mogadishu after days of clashes

Life in Mogadishu is returning to normal after the heavy fighting in the last few days, a local resident told IRIN. With no fighting since Monday, "people are coming out of their houses, and picking up the pieces", Muhammad Ali, a resident of the Medina district in the southwest, said. Medina was the epicentre of the fighting on Sunday and Monday, when militia loyal to faction leader Usman Ali Ato, and militia working for businessmen clashed at the KM-7 checkpoint controlled by Ato's militia. People who have laid low for days are now venturing into the streets to buy essentials, and asses the extent of the damage caused by the fighting. "We have had two days of calm", but whether it would last was open to question, Muhammad said. Even though the fighting has stopped, the two militias are still facing each other from defensive positions. Meanwhile, the KM-7 checkpoint was open on Wednesday and traffic operating normally, Muhammad said. Ato has blamed the clashes on the businessmen, accusing them of masquerading as a government, Radio Banaadir, monitored by the BBC, reported on Monday. The businessmen reportedly support the Transitional National Government (TNG), which faction leaders like Ato oppose. The businessmen's support for the TNG had served to deprive the faction leaders of income they used to obtain in the form of contributions and taxes on imports and exports, local sources said. Clan elders were in the process of mediating between the two sides and trying to get the militias withdrawn from the checkpoint, the sources told IRIN.