Somalia: Insurgents kill Ethiopian soldiers in Mogadishu
Thu. January 03, 2008 10:26 am.- By Mohamed Abdi Farah. - Send this news article
(SomaliNet) Two Ethiopian and one Somali soldiers were killed while several civilians were wounded in renewed armed clashes with the local insurgent groups in the Somalia on Thursday, witnesses said.
According to the local residents, the Ethiopian soldiers have shot dead by Islamist snipers in Sodonka intersection in Hodan district, south of the capital.
In return, the Ethiopians fired bullets wounding several people in the area before clashing with the insurgent groups who were using hand grenades and heavy automatic machine guns.
Around Bakara market, one Somali government soldier has been killed when Islamist fighter threw a grenade bomb to the policemen.
The latest clashes came hours after hundreds of Somalia and Ethiopian forces were deployed on the key roads surrounding Mogadishu's main Bakara market which is seen by the current government as an area dominant by the Islamists.
On Wednesday, roadside explosion has killed three people and wounded dozen others in Afgoye town, 30km south of the Somalia capital Mogadishu.
All the victims were civilians as the bomb exploded in a busy market in the town, according to the residents.
Sources say the blast missed its target which the Ethiopian forces who were known to have been shopping in the market.
Islamist groups continue to target the positions of the transitional government and its Ethiopian ally as human casualty rose high.
Two third of the people in Mogadishu fled their houses because of the ongoing fighting between the Ethiopian backed transitional government forces and the Islamic insurgents.
