"Many killed" as militias target TNG minister

Heavy fighting erupted in north Mogadishu on Friday morning when militia loyal to Muhammad Habib, better known as Muhammad Dhere, attacked the house of Dahir Shaykh Dayah, the Interior Minister of the Transitional National Government (TNG), a local source told IRIN.

Dahir's security detail was quickly overwhelmed and the minister had to be spirited away out of the house, Muhammad Tahlil, according to a north Mogadishu resident. "Dahir Dayah's house was completely looted," he said.

The fighting had reportedly drawn in the forces of Mogadishu faction leader Muse Sudi Yalahow, in support of Muhammad Dhere's militia, other sources told IRIN.

Muhammad Dhere was a former member of the Transitional National Assembly, before he quit a year ago to become the "governor" of Middle Shabelle Region. Both he and Muse Sudi are members of the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC), a grouping of southern factions opposed to the TNG.

The TNG, for its part, has reportedly deployed military forces to reinforce the police, who first arrived on the scene to help evacuate Dayah.

The fighting was subsequently concentrated around the headquarters of the former Somali navy in north Mogadishu, to which the forces of Muse Sudi and Muhammad Dhere withdrew after attacking the minister's house.

"As of this moment, the area around the minister's house, most of the Lido beach area and Karan [all in north Mogadishu] are controlled by government troops," Muhammad Tahlil told IRIN on Friday.

He said the fighting was taking its toll of the residents of north Mogadishu, with "many people reportedly killed and many others wounded."

The fighting subsided on Friday afternoon, but with sporadic firing emanating from the positions of Muhammad Dhere and Muse Sudi, Mogadishu police chief Abdi Hassan Awale Qeybdid told IRIN.

Qeybdid dismissed reports that clan elders were trying mediate in the conflict. "The security forces will not stop until they arrest those who were behind the attack on the minister's house", he added.

Attempts by IRIN to reach Muhammad Dhere and Muse Sudi were unsuccessful.