Saturday, September 01, 2007
Gunmen shot two civilians at a market in Bakara, one of the most volatile areas in Mogadishu, said witness Yusuf Mohamed, while a security official confirmed the killing of a soldier in a roadside explosion further south.
The attacks come two days after UN-backed peace talks aimed at halting the Somali conflict ended in failure in Mogadishu, threatening to plunge the Horn of Africa nation into deeper turmoil.
The government has blamed Islamist insurgents for almost daily guerrilla-style attacks in Mogadishu against government targets, Ethiopian troops and African Union peacekeepers.
Joint Somali-Ethiopian troops and at least 1,500 African Union peacekeepers have failed to stem the insurgency that has choked the delivery of supplies to Mogadishu residents.
Somalia has lacked an effective government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre touched off a deadly power struggle that has defied numerous attempts to restore peace.
Source: AFP, Sept 01, 2007