xiinfaniin Posted May 22, 2009 the shelling is real and devastating to the city and its people, but who is to blame? ==================== ==================== ======== Somali capital heavily shelled in renewed fighting By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN Friday, May 22, 2009 MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Hundreds of Somali government troops attacked insurgent-held positions north and south of the capital on Friday and the heart of the city was heavily shelled, witnesses said. One said a busload of fleeing civilians was hit. Shelling was heavy on a major north-south route through the city, Wadnaha Road, which the Islamic fighters took earlier this month, area resident Abdi Haji said. It is one of the four main roads in the capital, Mogadishu. Friday's surge in fighting, following a few days' lull in a strong insurgent advance on Mogadishu, has killed at least 13 people and wounded dozens, residents and an independent radio station said. Resident Abdullahi Mohamud Sugow said he saw the bus shelled in the Hawl Wadag district. "It was grisly scene. I can't tell you anything more," he said, before hanging up the phone. Pictures of the fighting showed gunmen crouched behind the ruins of shell-pocked buildings and bodies lying in the streets. In one photo, a man clutches a wounded child to his chest in the back of a car, his shirt reddened with the blood streaming from the child's face. In another, a man's lower jaw has been torn away by a bullet or piece of shrapnel. Editor Abdirahman Yusuf Al-Adala of the independent ratio station Shabelle Media Network also said a stray bullet killed journalist Abdirisaq Warsame Mohamed as he headed to work. The Islamist insurgents are attempting to dislodge the U.N.-backed government from the few blocks of the capital it still controls. But the government is supported by 4,350 African Union peacekeepers, who are helping hold key installations such as the port, the airport and the presidential palace. Government commander-in-chief Lt. Yusuf Osman Dumal said the fighting Friday began when Islamists attacked government positions. But residents said the government used the temporary respite to reinforce and re-equip the troops under its control and that it appeared to be a planned government offensive. Defense Minister Mohamed Abdi Gandi said the government launched the attack "to defend its people and defeat its opponents." "We have captured new bases. We have conquered areas controlled by rebel groups," he said at a news conference in the capital. "We will continue the offensive against the rebels until we impose our authority all over the country." But insurgents said they had repelled the government forces. "The so-called government has attacked our bases. We have beaten them back and they retreated to their former stations," a spokesman for the insurgent Islamic Party, Muse Abdi Arale, said. The United Nations reports that around 49,000 residents have fled the fighting in the capital, and the humanitarian situation is dire. Many families live without access to food or water under trees or by the side of roads sheltered by nothing more than a few scraps of plastic. On Wednesday, regional leaders reaffirmed their support for the beleaguered government and said more support was needed for the AU peacekeeping mission. Somalia has been torn apart by fighting since warlords overthrew a socialist dictator in 1991. The arid Horn of Africa nation is now controlled by clan warlords and criminal militias and wracked by a civil war between Islamist insurgents backed by Eritrea and a precarious new U.N.-backed government struggling to assert its control. Source: AP, May 22, 2009 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
General Duke Posted May 22, 2009 ^^^The fake Caravan is to blame, you prolonged the war, now they shoot from the Bakara Market you used to defend, remmeber Xiin? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paragon Posted May 22, 2009 Emperor, lol. Shame? I think it's due elsewhere. Anyway, there was no AMISOM nor 12 people mentioned by the article so can we deduce that you got it out of your pocket? Admit it sxb, you manufactured it and stumped it with 'Made by Emperior. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xiinfaniin Posted May 22, 2009 The Caravan carries the solution, be onboard as you have been Duke. Dont look back that lingering thought of bitterness is not healthy adeer. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Emperor Posted May 22, 2009 Paragon, Saaxib, let's not deduce this into a silly chit-chat, you know what I am talking about and what this is all about... bal let me see and handle what you posed as an argument... The article says more than 10, I said 12, come back and let me if 12 is not more than 10 - reported in other sites... the other argument is, did AMISOM heavily shell the city as I reported, and the answer is big YES... so brother if you have something else come back otherwise let's not around the irrelevant... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thierry. Posted May 22, 2009 lool Emperor you should focus your energy in tackling them rather than attacking the President Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paragon Posted May 22, 2009 ^Lol. Emperior, simple questions: 1 - did the article mention AMISOM? Yes or No 2 - did the article specifically mention 12 people? Yes or No Answer these two question. Need jumping around all over the place. You breached the integrity of the article and outrightly mislead the readers, sxb. Period. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
N.O.R.F Posted May 22, 2009 ^Lightweights mate. Lighweights. Not worth a Kilogram! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peace Action Posted May 22, 2009 Agreed. Duke and the king should aim their firepower at the takfir shabaab. Sharif is much better for Somalia than these crazy shabaabs. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Liqaye Posted May 22, 2009 "Lightweights mate. Lighweights. Not worth a Kilogram!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
General Duke Posted May 22, 2009 30-50 dead, over 100 injured foreign troops as well extremists shelling the city. More civilians displaced than anytime before [according to UN] The government troops did not even take a single district back. Thus whats your arguments? Those who used to defend the Al Shabaab are now defending the Sharif with Ethiopians entering Hiiraan, and Ugandan’s , Burundians fighting in Mogadishu? Give us a break you are worth less than an atom lads.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sherban Shabeel Posted May 22, 2009 I understand people who supported Shabaab back in the day, and still support it against the new government. That's called being loyal. I understand people who didn't support Shabaab back in the day, and who still don't. That's called having foresight. I understand people who supported Shabaab back in the day, and who support Shariif now. That's called supporting who is RIGHT at the moment. I'm one of them. But for the life of me, I will never understand people who were against Shabaab back in the day and who are against Shariif now. That's just being confused. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xiinfaniin Posted May 22, 2009 ^^Exactly. Duke leads the confused ones on SOL. Jemce wanaagsan ikhyaarta. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Emperor Posted May 22, 2009 Paragon, you are going around irrelevant issues, Adeer its FACT the AMISON troops have continously and heavily shelled Mogadishu today, however it was predictable of you to excuse their action or deny it altogether.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daandurreey Posted May 22, 2009 Originally posted by Norf 2: ^Lightweights mate. Lighweights. Not worth a Kilogram! you just copied the line Duke just used. loool. all I know (perhaps everyone else knows as well) is that Duke is more heavyweight than you will ever be. i am sure it is in everyone's mind when they read that. Duke is more intelligent, more viscous and can put up a good defense against multiple fronts at one time unlike your silly one liners. that is heavyweight. qaadka aa cuneeso jooji aboowe. been uu kuu sheegay aa u maleehaa. hehe Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
