Somali police chief dies in attack

Somali police chief dies in attack
Sapa-AP
Somali government forces attacked rebel strongholds in Mogadishu on Wednesday, triggering battles that killed at least eight people, including the capital's police chief, witnesses and police said. Somalia sees influx of fighters Ethiopia scouts enter Somalia Bin Laden urges Somali coup Residents cowered in their homes or took cover behind buildings as mortars slammed into the city. Islamist fighters wearing headscarves and ammunition belts were seen arriving from the outskirts of the capital to join the battle. Police spokesman Col. Abdulahi Hassan Barise confirmed the death of police chief Col. Ali Said but had no further details. Residents reported seeing the bodies of at least seven civilians. "This is the strongest fighting we have seen in recent months," said Mogadishu resident Asha Moalim. A surge of violence in Somalia's capital since last month has killed about 200 people as insurgents battle the government and its allies. Insurgents want to topple the Western-backed government and install a strict Islamic state. The UN says the conflict between the government forces and Islamist fighters has displaced more than 122,000 people, since the start of the latest fighting in May. Somalia has had no effective central government for nearly two decades. http://www.topix.net/world/africa/2009/06/somali-police-chief-dies-in-attack