Massacre of Mogadishu Sharif Hotel - Worst ever attack

[General Duke]

 

Shell fire kills at least 30 in Mogadishu

 

Thu Oct 22, 2009 12:57pm

By Ibrahim Mohamed and Abdi Sheikh

 

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Mortar bombs killed at least 30 people in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Thursday after rebels launched shells at the president's plane and African Union (AU) peacekeepers responded with heavy artillery fire.

 

President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, who was leaving for a summit in Uganda, was not hurt. But residents and medical workers said at least 30 people died and scores more were wounded in one of the heaviest exchanges to rock the city for weeks.

 

Farah Olow, a shopkeeper in the sprawling Bakara market, told Reuters by telephone that six people were killed by a shell that demolished a home there.

 

"They were taking cover in a concrete building, but such big shells can penetrate the strongest house," he said. "We can't go out to count how many more are dead. Bombs are raining on us."

 

Bakara, which is notorious for its open-air weapons bazaar, has long been viewed by the government and the AU force AMISOM as a stronghold of hardline Islamist al Shabaab insurgents trying to overthrow the country's transitional administration.

 

Washington accuses the rebel group of being al Qaeda's proxy in the failed Horn of Africa state.

 

A Reuters journalist near the AMISOM base said the AU troops fired at least 35 BM-21 rockets and mortar shells at Bakara, and that towers of dark smoke poured from the market.

 

Insurgents use the area to launch their artillery attacks, and most residents have fled because of frequent AU strikes at the al Shabaab bases in Bakara and surrounding districts.

 

At the time of the attack, the market was busy with civilians who had returned to buy food and other basic goods.

 

Witnesses said al Shabaab began firing mortar bombs from at least six locations in and around Bakara as the president's plane was leaving the international airport's coastal runway.

 

"Insurgents fired mortar bombs at the plane carrying President Ahmed, and then AMISOM responded with shells. That is how the problem started," said Ali Yasin Gedi, vice chairman of Mogadishu's Elman Peace and Human Rights Organization.

 

Fighting in Somalia has killed 19,000 civilians since the start of 2007 and driven another 1.5 million from their homes, triggering one of the world's worst humanitarian emergencies.

 

Western security agencies say the Horn of Africa nation has become a safe haven for militants, including foreign jihadists, who are using it to plot attacks across the region and beyond.

 

Last month, al Shabaab hit AMISOM's Mogadishu headquarters in an audacious twin suicide car bombing that killed 17 peacekeepers, including the Burundian deputy force commander.

 

An AMISOM spokesman declined to discuss the details of Thursday's clashes, but said the rebels were deluded

[General Duke]

The numbers are scary, 30 dead over 70 injured and Sharif Hotel is quite doing his job.

[General Duke]

Somalia: Dozens Killed in Mogadishu Shelling

Published by webmaster on October 22, 2009 filed under NEWS · Comments (0)

 

Medical workers and witnesses say at least 20 people, including many civilians, are dead in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, after one of the worst battles between Islamist militants and government forces in weeks.

 

Ali Muse, the head of Mogadishu’s ambulance services, said at least 58 other people were wounded.

 

Witnesses say the shelling began Thursday at the international airport as President Sharif Shekh Ahmed was heading to Uganda for an African Union meeting on refugees and internally displaced people.

 

The witnesses say insurgents shot mortars at the airport and airplane and African Union peacekeepers returned fire.

 

The president was not hurt in the attack.

 

They say the busy Bakara market was also struck hard by mortar shells. Witnesses saw the dead bodies of at least six civilians there.

 

Somalia has not had a stable central government since 1991.

 

Islamist militant group Al-Shabab and its allies control much of southern Somalia after a nearly three-year war against the Western-backed Somali government.(VOA)

[General Duke]

Somalia: 25 killed after in Mogadishu insurgent attacks

22 Oct 22, 2009 - 2:40:32 PM

 

*Additions: Death toll reaches 25 people and 75 wounded, mostly civilians

Somali President flies safely to Uganda

 

MOGADISHU, Somalia Oct 22 (Garowe Online) - At least 25 people were killed on Thursday in the Somali capital Mogadishu after insurgents attacked government forces and their African Union (AMISOM) backers, Radio Garowe reports.

 

Witnesses said the fighting erupted along Maka Al Mukarrrama Road that connects the Villa Somalia presidential compound and Mogadishu's Aden Adde International Airport.

 

Somali insurgents attacked the road with emerging reports saying President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's convoy was driving towards the airport. The Somali President flew safely from the Mogadishu airport on his way to Kampala, Uganda, according to government sources.

 

AMISOM peacekeepers shelled parts of Mogadishu, including businesses and residential areas in Hodan and Howlwadaag districts. Most of the dead were civilians killed in the crossfire, including explosions at Bakara Market.

 

Upwards of 75 people were wounded during the fierce shelling and armed clashes between insurgents and allied Somali-AMISOM troops, accoring to medical sources.

 

Witnesses said 80 shells hit parts of Bakara Market and its surroundings, with residents saying that it was the "worst shelling" seen in Mogadishu in recent weeks.

 

Mogadishu has been the scene of intense violence between government forces and insurgents who have vowed to overthrow the UN-recognized interim government.

 

Source: Garowe Online

[General Duke]

Shell fire kills at least 30 in Mogadishu

 

Artillery battles between Islamist insurgents, Somali government forces and African Union (AU) peacekeepers killed at least 30 people in the capital Mogadishu on Thursday, residents and medical workers said.

 

Witnesses said the rebels launched volleys of mortar bombs at the city's international airport as President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed left for a meeting in Uganda, prompting AU soldiers there to respond with artillery fire.

 

 

" I can say this was the worst such incident recently in Mogadishu. Heavy shelling was hitting civilian populated areas, including Bakara market, Holwadag and Hodan "

Ali Muse, coordinator of the capital\\\\\\\'s ambulance serviceResidents and medical workers said at least 30 people died and scores more were wounded in one of the heaviest exchanges to rock the city for weeks.

 

"I can say this was the worst such incident recently in Mogadishu. Heavy shelling was hitting civilian populated areas, including Bakara market, Holwadag and Hodan," Ali Muse, coordinator of the capital's ambulance service, told Reuters.

 

Ahmed was not hurt in the exchange of fire, the sources said.

 

An alliance of the al-Qaeda-inspired Shabaab group and the more political Hezb al-Islam group on May 7 launched a countrywide military offensive aimed at toppling Ahmed, who has largely owed his survival to AMISOM's protection.

 

Fighting in Somalia has killed 19,000 civilians since the start of 2007 and driven another 1.5 million from their homes.

[General Duke]

Xaaladii ugu danbeysay iyo sida ay caawa tahay Muqdisho

 

Waxaa isa soo tarayo qasaraha ka dhashay duqeymihii Ciidamada AMISOM u geysteen qeybo ka mid ah Magaalada Muqdisho wuxuuna dhibka ugu weyni gaaray dad rayid ahaa oo ku sugnaa jidka wadnaha agagaarka tarbuunka ilaa geed jacayl inta u dhaxayso siiba masaajidka macalin biyo mamlow ,qeybo ka tirsan xaafda howlwadaag ,suuqa xoolaha oo ay ku dhinteen dad iyo xoolo intaba ka dib markii ay ku dhacen madaafiic BII EM ah oo loogu riday si garbo siman ah sidoo kale gudaha suuqa bakaaraha ayaa aheyd manta goobo dhiig badani ku hoorey .

 

Ciidamda dowlada iyo kuwa AMISOM waxay joogaan wadada maka al mukaraha halkaas oo ay difac uga jiraan inta ka so hartayna waa dadka joogo waa cabsi ku noolayaal iyagana laga cabsanayo

 

Dhamaan goobaha ay ka dhacday dhimashadu iyo dhaawaca waxaa tagay gawaarida gurmadka deg deg ah oo sheegay in ay ka qaadeen ilaa 65 qof oo dhawac ka so gaareen duqymihii saaka kuwaas oo ay geeyeen ispitalada magaalada Muqdisho waxaana ka mid ahaa goobihi la geeyey dhawacyada ispitalka madiina oo la garsiiyey 12 qof oo qaba dhaawacyo kala duwan dhanka kale ispitalka dagmada dayniile oo aan qadka talephonka kula xiriiray ayaa madaxdii halkaa joogtay waxay inoo xaqiijiyeen in la garsiiyey 39 dhawac ah .balse nasiib daro labo ka mid ah rayidkii dhawaca aha aintii ay wadada ku jireen ayey geeriyoodeen halka mid sadaxaadna uu geriyooday intii qalinkiisa lagu guda jirey

 

Dhaawacyada iyo dhimashadu intaa wey ka badan kartaa oo waxaa jirey in dhaawacyad qaarkood aysan u suurta galin in ay helaan gurmad caafimaad oo deg deg ah wadoyinkuna waxay ahaayen kuwo u xirnaa ciidamda AMISOM iyo kuwa dowlada mark alga reebo wadada aada dagmada dayniile oo dhanka suuqa bakaaraha u furneyd .

 

Ispitaalada ayaa horey waxaa uga buuxay dad rayid ah oo ay dhaawacyo ka soo gaareen iska horimaadyada hubeysan ee Muqdisho ku soo can baxday waayadaan iyo duqeymaha sidaan oo kale ah ka dhaca waxaana ka mid ah dhawacyo ispitaaladu ay wax ka qaban kari waayeen iyo kuwo ku waayey xubno muhiin u ahaa waxaana Muqdisho ku soo kordhayo dad ka adimadu ka maqan yihiin sida lug ama gacan halka qaarkoodna aad arkeysid kuwo ay ka maqan yihiin labada lugoo ama labada gacmood .

 

Xiligaan Magaaladu waa dagan tahay wax dhawaq ahna lama maqlayo waxaana kala xiran goobaha ay kala fadhiyaan ciidamada codowga isu ah ee kuwada sugan magaalada meelaha qaar waa muqdi oo aan wax nalal ah laheyn goobaha qaarna leyrka ayaa u shidan.