MOGADISHU, Somalia Mar 19 (Garowe Online) - Dozens of Somali families began fleeing the capital Mogadishu Monday evening as residential areas were pounded with mortars and artillery.
Several areas of Mogadishu were hit with bombs overnight, including the presidential palace at Villa Somali and the city’s main sea port.
The bombings that started around 8pm local time are reported to have caused massive damage to live and property, but confirmation is difficult since its still night.
Captain Paddy Ankunda, spokesman for the African Union mission in Somalia, confirmed to Garowe Online that 2 mortars hit the inside of the port, wounding two small children.
Witnesses near the port said Somali and Ugandan troops responded by firing at least 9 artillery shells towards locations suspected to be the source of the mortars.
Several people were wounded when one shell hit an ex-government school that now houses refugee families.
In Mogadishu’s Hamar Jajab district, 2 people were reported dead and 2 others wounded when part of their home was hit.
In the Howl-wadaag area, 3 people were wounded when an artillery shell hit their home, according to a neighbor who declined to be named in print.
Muqaawama
Earlier Monday, tens of armed young men roamed parts of Mogadishu aboard “technicals†– pick-up trucks mounted with heavy machine guns that are renowned throughout Somalia.
According to area residents, the militiamen with covered faces, who referred to themselves as “Muqaawama,†said they would fight against the interim Somali government and its foreign backers, including Ethiopian soldiers and Ugandan peacekeepers.
Residents said it’s the first time the Muqaawama militiamen publicly showcased their heavy weapons since joint Somali-Ethiopian forces removed the Islamic Courts militia from Mogadishu at the beginning of this year.
“They used to only have AK-47 and walk around [before],†said Ali, a resident in ‘Aymiska neighborhood, one of several Mogadishu areas the Muqaawama militias displayed their military hardware.
Somalia’s transitional government is the 14th attempt to restore central rule after 16 years of civil war in the Horn of Africa nation. The government blames resurgent Islamist fighters for the rising insecurity in a capital of nearly 2 million inhabitants.
