CNN.com Somalia fighting leaves 18 dead, dozens wounded
(CNN) -- Heavy fighting between Islamist militants and government forces in Somalia's capital has left 18 people dead and dozens wounded, medical officials said Sunday. "The fighting is huge and is marked by heavy exchange of artillery," said Ali Musa, a head of a Mogadishu ambulance service. Of the 36 reported wounded, 11 were hurt when an artillery shell hit their bus near Mogadishu's Bakara Market. The African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia said the fighting centered around attempts to destroy a network of tunnels and trenches that the jihadist movement Al-Shabaab used to move weapons and fighters around the capital. The dead included two peacekeepers and six rebel leaders that the Ugandan-led mission said were linked to al Qaeda. "The discovery and closure of this tunnel is a major step forward in the stabilization effort in the city," the Ugandan-led AMISOM mission said in a statement issued Sunday. AMISOM said the fighting erupted Saturday as Al-Shabaab tried to retake the tunnel network. Somalia's state-run radio network said 28 rebels were killed in Saturday's clashes. AMISOM's communique said foreign fighters have effectively taken over Al-Shabaab. It said five of the six rebel leaders killed in the recent fighting came from countries beyond Somalia -- Yemen, Pakistan, India, Kenya and Syria -- while the nationality of the sixth was unknown. AMISOM, which supports Somalia's transitional government, said the combined forces now control about 60 percent of the city. But the government has little influence beyond Mogadishu, and Al-Shabaab controls much of southern Somalia. The horn of Africa nation has not had an effective government since Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown two decades ago. Journalist Mohammed Amiin Adow contributed to this report for CNN. Links referenced within this article Find this article at: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/02/20/somalia.violence/index.html?hpt=T2 Click Here to Print SAVE THIS | EMAIL THIS | Close Uncheck the box to remove the list of links referenced in the article. © 2008 Cable News Network. ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
