Tuesday, March 06, 2007
"Three people were killed. One civilian and two gunmen were killed during the shoot out," garage owner Mohamed Ismail, who lives nearby, told AFP.
Resident Khadra Aden confirmed the killing occured near the heavily fortified former defence ministry headquarters that have been occupied by Ethiopian forces.
"I have seen two gunmen killed and they were collected for burial by other gunmen. A civilian was also killed," added Aden.
"Six people were wounded in the shoot out. Two were insurgents and the other four were civilians," said Ahmed Balbal, a trader.
Witnesses said the clashes started after gunmen attacked the Ethiopian base using heavy machine guns, prompting the forces to respond with heavy artillery fire.
The fighting followed the arrival of the first AU peacekeeping troops from Uganda, who were met with mortar attacks at the city's main airport.
There were no casualities reported in the airport attacks and subsequent gunfire in a nearby neighbourhood between pro-government militia and insurgents accused of attacking the airport.
Such attacks, which have killed dozens of people since joint Somali-Ethiopian forces defeated an Islamist movement in January, have become a near-daily occurrence in Mogadishu.
Source: AFP, Mar 06, 2007