20 killed as residential areas bear brunt of attack on Mogadishu
Tristan McConnell
At least 20 people were killed in the Somali capital Mogadishu yesterday after Islamist militants fired mortars into the presidential compound and launched a ground attack that was thwarted by African Union-backed government forces.
"More than 20 people died and scores of others were injured on Saturday and Sunday," said Ali Yasin Gedi, deputy chairman of the Elman Peace Centre, a local human rights group.
"The government and Islamists are engaged in heavy shelling and mortars have landed in residential areas in the city," he added. Witnesses said that five members of a single family were killed when a mortar landed on their house.
At the time of the attacks President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed was in Turkey attending an international conference at which Western countries and the United Nations reiterated their support for his weak and besieged government.
"The only way to restore stability is to support this government, both in its reconciliation efforts and, where necessary, its fight against extremism," said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon.
Mr Sharif's main opponent is al-Shabaab, a rebel group that claims allegiance to al-Qaeda and has carried out suicide bombings in Mogadishu.
From its city stronghold in Bakara Market, al-Shabaab often launches mortars at the hilltop Villa Somalia where Mr Sharif is based. In January celebrations to mark Mr Sharif's first year in power were targeted by mortars.
Al-Shabaab militants also regularly attack other strategic positions and buildings protected by contingents of the 5,300 AU peacekeepers deployed to defend Mr Sharif's administration. Earlier this month a volley of insurgent mortars disrupted the first meeting of Parliament since December.
Witnesses said that at the weekend al-Shabaab fighters had attempted to take a strategic junction linking the presidential palace and Mogadishu port, both key parts of coastal sliver of the city controlled by Mr Sharif's government
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