On Wednesday, Mogadishu, SomaliaÂ’s chaotic capital, exploded in violence after insurgents attacked a government barracks. Soldiers responded by sealing off large swaths of the city and searching house to house for weapons, according to reports in the New York Times. The raids immediately sparked resistance, and squads of Ethiopian soldiers and troops loyal to the transitional government poured into the streets, where they battled outraged residents and masked insurgents. At least one corpse lay on the street, witnesses said.In another attack, at least one person was killed when Somali militiamen fired a rocket-propelled grenade at an Ethiopian truck, missing it but hitting a house, a government source said. From dawn through early afternoon, the pop of gunfire and boom of explosives echoed across the already bullet-pocked city.
Doctors at Medina hospital said at least 15 people were seriously hurt, including three government soldiers. Violence in the past few days has quickly filled all of the hospitalÂ’s beds to overflowing, leaving bleeding men and women curled up on the floor and under acacia trees in the courtyard. "This is not something that is going to stop," said Dahir Mohammed, head of the interim governmentÂ’s medical department.