Although this morning started with relative serenity, residents in MogadishuÂ’s eastern districts witnessed some of the most intensive confrontations in the past months. Clashes between fighters loyal to Al-Shabaab, the most radical Islamist group opposing the Transitional Federal Government, and the pro-government forces that included the peacekeepers serving the African Union Mission in Somalia, Amisom, have been extremely heavy in the last three days. The heavy exchange of fire appear to have reached its climax on Tuesday night as the pro-government forces tried their best to push back rebel advances towards Villa Somalia, the state house in Mogadishu.
Nearly twenty people have been reported to have died and over sixty injured as assumed by ambulance servicemen in the Somali capital. Most of the dead belonged to the fighting sides although innocent civilians generally absorbed the brunt of the confrontations. Ali Yusufey Mukhtar, a resident in Bondhere, one of the affected districts, said that most of the people in Bondhere and Shibs districts have already fled the heavy fighting in the past two days and nights.
Sheikh Abdulaziz Abu MusÂ’ab, the spokesman of Al-ShabaabÂ’s jihad operations, claimed that his fighters captured strategic positions, especially in Bondhere district, which is closer to the presidential palace. He added that attacks by the pro-government forces were rejected. On the other hand, the TFGÂ’s Bondhere District Commissioner, Abdullahi Hersi Warsame alias Stikin, claimed that the rebels were pushed back and the government forces will continue to pursue them.