Truce holding after days of clashes in capital

A ceasefire appeared to be holding on Monday in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, after seven days of fighting between heavily armed militias in which at least 190 people were killed and hundreds more injured.

Local sources told IRIN that no violations had been reported since the ceasefire took effect on Sunday. A mediation committee led by elders, religious leaders and businessmen reportedly brokered the truce.

However, thousands of people who had been displaced by the fighting were still reluctant to return to their homes. "There have not been any returns today [on Monday]," a local journalist who requested anonymity said. "Many families are not convinced that this is the end of it [violence]. I think they are waiting to see if it actually holds for a couple of days before they venture back."

Mogadishu was rocked by fighting that started on 7 May initially pitting militias loyal to Nur Daqle against those led by the chairman of the Islamic courts, Shaykh Sharif Shaykh Ahmed. Daqle and Ahmed belong to the Agoon Yar subclan of the Abgal community. What started as an internal feud soon became a battle between the Islamic courts and the newly created Alliance for Peace and the Fight Against International Terrorism, which comprises several Mogadishu-based faction leaders.

"Mogadishu is enjoying the second day without the sound of heavy gunfire," said Hussein Shaykh Ahmed Kadare, a member of mediation committee, which was taking steps to "disengage" the two sides on Monday. "The likelihood of clashes remains so long as they are facing each other," he said. "That is why we need to move them apart."

Other sources cautioned that the city was still tense, as neither side had committed to a permanent ceasefire. "The city is pregnant with the expectation of more violence," said the local journalist. He said the mediators were not dealing with the "core issues".

Kadare called the ceasefire announcement "a first step". "Once we are sure we have established a complete ceasefire and silence the guns, we will then start dialogue to deal with the underlying problems."

Medical sources said that more than 500 people had been injured in the fighting. The ceasefire had allowed groups of people, led by religious leaders, to enter neighbourhoods that had been off-limits to bury the dead. "Many people were left where they died, because no one could get to them," a doctor said. "It was too dangerous."