Wednesday, June 18, 2008
"We lost four policemen and three others were injured in a roadside bomb this morning," said Abukar Ali, a police officer.
Five others were killed late yesterday when Islamist fighters attacked a checkpoint guarded by policemen, touching off deadly clashes.
"The fighting that killed five civilians broke out after the insurgents attacked Foleransa checkpoint," said Abdi Mohamed Ali, a resident in Wardhigley neighbourhood. "Three civilians died when a mortar landed in their house and two others died at the checkpoint," Ali added.
Islamist insurgents have carried out a string of attacks mainly in Mogadishu, the epicentre of 17 years of conflict that erupted after the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
The Islamist militants took over Mogadishu and large swathes of the country from US-backed warlords in 2006, briefly imposing a strict form of Sharia law, banning music and cinemas.
They were ousted last year by Ethiopian-backed Somali government troops but their remnants have since waged a deadly guerrilla war.
Source: AFP, June 18, 2008