Mogadishu tense after weekend violence

Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, was calm but tense on Monday after a fresh outbreak of violence during the weekend left at least 12 people dead and hundreds more displaced.

"It is calm right now," a local observer said on Monday, "but the militia are still facing each other, and the tension is high. Large numbers of people continue to flee Mogadishu."

Violence flared up on Saturday rocking the city again only two days after what was termed the "deadliest" fighting to hit the city in years.

The fighting, like the previous clashes, pitted militiamen allied to the Islamic Courts against those loyal to the newly formed coalition to fight international terrorism, the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism.

Fighters from the both sides indiscriminately pounded parts of Mogadishu with artillery, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar fire. The fighting was most intense in Galgalato District and around "77", a complex of former military barracks between Daynille and Keysane districts.

"We were awoken by sounds of gunfire and mortars. A mortar hit my neighbour's house - it killed her son and seriously wounded two other people in the house," said Asha Ali, a terrified resident of Daynille. "We are waiting for the fight to subside so that we can leave for safer areas."

Most of the casualties were taken to Keysane Hospital, run by the Somali Red Crescent Society (SRCS) and adjacent to one of the main battle areas. Medical personnel at the hospital confirmed that four persons, including a 14-year-old girl and a two-year-old boy, succumbed to their wounds on Sunday. Officials at the medical facility also indicated that two stray mortars hit the hospital during Saturday's fighting, prompting the SRCS to appeal to both warring sides to spare the hospital and other medical centres. A 10-year-old girl also died at Medina Hospital on Sunday.

Eyewitnesses also reported seeing at least five bodies lying at the battlefields in Daynille District and two in Galgalato. "I saw five dead bodies lying not very far from where the fighting was taking place, near the road to Daynille airport," said Mohammed Lamane, from Daynille. "The bodies were there since Saturday, and people fear to be attacked when collecting them."

Since clashes first erupted on 18 February, there have been more than 300 deaths. Some 1,500 wounded have been treated in hospital, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the SRCS said in a statement. Most of the casualties in the recent fighting have been civilians, caught in the crossfire or killed inside their houses by stray mortars and artillery.

Following the clashes, doctors at different hospitals in Mogadishu said they were overwhelmed by the high number of people seeking treatment. Some of the casualties were brought into the hospitals on wheelbarrows. Medical personnel indicated that many patients were dying from treatable wounds because the clinics had run short of drugs and blood and because they lacked specialists to perform more complicated tasks.

"We are running short of facilities to cope with the huge number of wounded patients seeking treatment, and currently there are more than 100 of them at the hospital," said Sheikh Doon Salad Elmi, director of Medina Hospital. "A 24-year-old boy who had a bullet lodged in his brain just died in front of me because I could do nothing to save his life. We are mainly administering conservative treatments to patients."

A local analyst indicated that the fighting was started on Saturday by warlords from the anti-terror coalition who were trying to retake areas seized from them on Thursday. The analyst also interpreted Sunday's brief lull as a period during which both sides were regrouping and amassing weapons.

Hundreds of people fled their homes at the weekend, adding to the thousands who had already been displaced over previous days. Fleeing predominantly to the north, the displaced have reached towns as far as 150km from Mogadishu, including Bulo Mareer, Owdhegle, Kuntuwarey, Sablaale, Wanlaweyn and Afgoy. They are reportedly living in deplorable conditions, lacking basic necessities like food, water and shelter. Elders in Lower Shabelle region, accommodating a group of newly displaced people, appealed for assistance to support the new arrivals.

Meanwhile, a peace delegation comprising two cabinet ministers and a member of parliament from the Transitional Federal Government arrived in Mogadishu on Saturday, in a bid to convince the warring groups to halt the fighting and observe a ceasefire. Public Works Minister Osman Ali "Ato" leads the delegation and reportedly met representatives from the Islamic courts on Sunday.

"The mediation effort is ongoing, but has not led to a tangible result so far," a local observer said on Monday. "They are expected to meet the anti-terror coalition today."

Reacting to Saturday's clashes in Mogadishu, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan backed the calls by numerous local and international officials for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and deplored the deaths and suffering caused by the renewed violence. "The Secretary-General calls on both sides to enter into an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, as appealed for by the people of Mogadishu, clan leaders, and the international community, including his special representative for Somalia," Annan's spokesman said in a statement.

The clashes between the two sides that started in February threaten Somalia's fragile transitional government, which is struggling to impose its authority on the anarchic nation. The Islamist fighters, backed by influential Sharia courts, have gradually taken over larger parts of the city each time they have clashed with the warlords-led coalition. They have so far captured an airport; K4, a strategic junction; and the famous Sahafi hotel, all of which were previously under the control of the anti-terror coalition.