300 wounded in Somali battle
24/03/2007 14:26 - (SA)
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Nairobi - On the third day of heavy fighting in Mogadishu the number of people wounded increased to 300, said the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Friday.
"These are only those who reached the hospital," said Pascal Hondt, leader of the ICRC delegation of Somalia. "The number is likely to be higher."
How many people were killed was difficult to say at the moment, said Hondt.
Meanwhile, fighting between insurgents on the one hand and Ethiopian and Somali soldiers on the other hand continued.
The clan chiefs had agreed upon a fallback with representatives of the Ethiopian military, a representative of the Hawiye clan told a radio station earlier.
The Hawiye clan is hostile to the provisional government because they do not feel themselves sufficiently represented.
The Council of Islamic Courts, driven out by Ethiopian troops in December, has recruited most of this clan.
The African peace mission, which sought to bring calm to Somalia after the planned departure of the Ethiopian troops, is still not fully ready for action.
Only 1 500 Ugandan soldiers out of 8 000 have arrived so far, but they are not patrolling.
On April 16, about 300 delegates plan to take part in a national conciliation conference to consult on a solution for peace for the civil-war-torn land in the Horn of Africa.
