14 killed as mortars, gunbattle rages in Somali capital; gov’t troops attack insurgent area

14 die in mortar, gun battle in Somali capital

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somali government forces attacked insurgent-controlled areas in the capital, setting off a gunbattle and mortar fire that killed at least 10 civilians and four militants, witnesses said Wednesday. Almost 40 people were wounded.

The fighting started late Tuesday when government forces moved into an insurgent-held neighborhood of Mogadishu and killed four al-Shabab fighters, said resident Sa’id Ahmed. Militant reinforcements arrived and a heavy gunbattle and exchange of mortars lasted overnight, he said.

“It was some of the worst fighting I have ever witnessed in the city,” said resident Asha Ahmed Nur. Gunfire and explosions could be heard across Mogadishu, he said.

Residents who sought shelter in their homes believed that the battle signaled a much-anticipated government offensive against Islamists, he said. Somali officials have signaled for months that government troops, backed by forces from the African Union, will attempt to wrest back control of insurgent-held areas from the militants.

But there was no indication the fighting was the start of a larger offensive. Government forces are hampered by a lack of equipment, late paychecks, and some complain they do not even have enough food.

Ali Muse of Mogadishu’s ambulance service said the bodies of 10 civilians had been collected. He said 39 wounded people were taken to different hospitals.

Mortar fire slammed into a house and killed two people and wounded three others of the same family, said another resident, Siyad Ali.

Thousands of civilians have died in violence-wracked Mogadishu in a conflict that has intensified the last three years. The conflict pits Islamist insurgents against a weak, U.N.-backed government.

Al-Shabab, which Washington says has links to al-Qaida, controls much of Somalia and operates openly in the capital, confining the government and African Union peacekeepers to a few blocks of the city.

Somalia has been ravaged by violence and anarchy since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and turned on each other. Piracy has flourished off the Somali coast, making the Gulf of Aden one of the most dangerous waterways in the world.