UN concerned over renewed fighting in Mogadishu

The UN has expressed concern over reports of continuing fighting between rival clans in the capital, Mogadishu, and called on Somali leaders to bring the violence to a peaceful end.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the UN Secretary-General's Representative for Somalia, Winston Tubman, and UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Maxwell Gaylard said Somali leaders should resolve their differences peacefully, as agreed in the ongoing Somali peace and reconciliation process.

They extended condolences to bereaved families and sympathies to the displaced. "We are shocked by reports of the scale and ferocity of the recent fighting in Mogadishu and deeply concerned over the plight of the many civilian inhabitants of the city who have been struggling for many years to achieve a measure of peace and normality."

At least 60 people have died in clashes that started on 9 May, with hundreds wounded and thousands displaced. The fighting started following a disagreement between two militias of the same clan who are loyal to two business people. It involved forces guarding a hotel in the northern district of Behani, and those loyal to a local businessman from the Warsangeli clan, which reportedly attacked the hotel, the property of a businesswoman from the Wabudan clan.

A Mogadishu-based human rights group condemned the violence. "We have called on both sides to stop these indiscriminate attacks on unarmed civilians," Marian Awreye, Director, of the Isma'il Human Rights Centre told IRIN. "Those suffering the most are noncombatants."

Sources in Mogadishu on Thursday said the fighting had continued, displacing more people in the northern parts of the city.