Islamic court issue sparks fighting

Six people were killed and many others wounded when fighting broke out between two militias in Kaaran district, north Mogadishu, local sources told IRIN. Fighting broke out on Saturday near the former Navy headquarters, known as Marino, between a militia loyal to faction leader Muse Sudi Yalahow and another loyal to Abdirahman Mahmud Shifti, both belonging to the Daud sub-clan of the Abgal. By the afternoon, the fighting had come to an end.

A humanitarian source told IRIN that Muse Sudi’s militia attacked Shifti’s militia in an “attempt to dislodge them from the Marino area”. Local sources said the fighting was linked to attempts by Muse Sudi to set up an Islamic court in the area. Somali political sources said that in order for Musa Sude to make the clan-based Islamic court operational, he has to be unchallenged in the area. Five of the dead were militiamen, and one a civilian, the sources said. Muse Sudi succeeded in dislodging Shifti, whom he accuses of supporting the interim government, local sources said.