Families flee as police targeted in worsening violence

The Somali capital of Mogadishu was quiet on Monday, a day after government forces engaged heavily armed gunmen in the north of the city, as worsening violence forced families to flee the area, local sources told IRIN.

According to an update issued on Friday by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), "an estimated 1,000 people left Mogadishu in January 2007 due to fear of conflict and instability".

The displaced have moved to various areas, including Baidoa, Galkayo, Dhobley and Bosasso, said OCHA-Somalia.

The agency said negotiations with Kenyan authorities to allow trucks carrying humanitarian supplies into Somalia are continuing. "Humanitarian cargo that has been waiting to cross for over a week includes 3,600 metric tonnes of food aid for distribution in Gedo [in the southwest]," it said.

The fighting between uniformed police and unknown gunmen started "around 1p.m. local time on Sunday near the livestock market, when gunmen fired at a private vehicle, which had a police commander as a passenger. It was fired on as it travelled on the road to Balad [North of Mogadishu]," said Hassan Fanah, a local journalist.

Police reinforcements who came to the area engaged the gunmen "but then the residents joined the fighting on the side of the gunmen", he said. He said the exchange of gunfire continued for about 45 minutes, forcing the police to withdraw.

One policeman and five civilians were killed in Sunday's fighting, according to eyewitnesses. The area was reported to be calm on Monday, with no more fighting.

Other sources, however, told IRIN that some residents were leaving the area for fear of more clashes. "Many people are leaving Huriwa [district] for other parts of the city or leaving the city altogether," said a local businessman. "I have sent my family out of Mogadishu," he added.

The area has become notorious for frequent ambushes of Ethiopian and government troops since they took over the city in late December 2006.

The source said that in recent days gunmen who used to target Ethiopian troops "have begun targeting government forces and officials. I think it is a new strategy, because the Ethiopians have curtailed their movements within the city."

He said leaflets, purportedly from the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), warning people against collaborating with the Ethiopians and the government, were circulating in the city.

Many Mogadishu residents blame the attacks on the remnants of the defeated UIC, but there are suspicions that "the attacks are not the work of the courts alone. There are suspicions that warlords who did not get what they wanted from the government are involved in this," said a Mogadishu resident. "Normal criminals are also taking advantage of the fluid situation," he added. "We even had people with uniforms robbing people."

ah/mw