AU soldiers killed, dragged through streets by Islamists in Mogadishu

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

AU soldiers killed, dragged through streets by Islamists in Mogadishu

 

 

Monday, August 01, 2011

 

 

Fierce fighting broke out on Friday as al- Qaeda-inspired al- Shabab insurgents reinforced positions following the launch of a government offensive to secure aid routes for drought victims.

 

HEAVY fighting in Mogadishu, the capital of drought-ravaged Somalia, continued at the weekend after Islamist rebels killed three African Union (AU) soldiers and dragged their bodies through the streets.

 

Fierce fighting broke out on Friday as al- Qaeda-inspired al- Shabab insurgents reinforced positions following the launch of a government offensive to secure aid routes for drought victims.

 

"I saw three dead Ugandan soldiers dragged by the residents in Suqaholaha. They wore army dog- tags around their necks," said Osmail Yusuf, a witness. "Their bodies were brought by the Shabab fighters from the frontline."

 

There was no immediate confirmation from the AU mission (Amisom), which has about 9000 forces from Uganda and Burundi deployed in Mogadishu to protect the embattled western-backed transitional federal government.

 

An Amisom tank was also destroyed, witnesses said, with both sides exchanging heavy machine- gun and artillery fire around Mogadishu’s Ali-Kamin junction, a position government troops had taken on Thursday.

 

Both sides claimed victory in the clashes. Al-Shabab spokesman Sheikh Abdulaziz Abu Musab said the "mujahideen fighters killed many AU troops and also seized weapons and other military supplies", while Somali Col Abdikarin Dhegobadan said his soldiers had the upper hand.

 

Al-Shabab have been losing ground in the capital in recent months as government troops and Amisom have clawed their way back to several key positions.

 

Al-Shabab is being blamed in part for the food shortage in Somalia. The United Nations, which last year withdrew aid workers because of attacks by the Islamist militia, has declared famine in two regions of Somalia and says 3,7-million people in the country are going hungry due to drought. In the wider region, about 12-million face starvation