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| Africa Horn |
| Somali troops seize al-Shabab weapons |
| 2010-12-18 |
| [Iran Press TV] Somali government troops have nabbed a military truck carrying weapons to al-Shaboobs stationed on the outskirts of Mogadishu. "On Thursday afternoon, government soldiers seized a vehicle at a first checkpoint in Afgooye town, situated about 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) west of Mogadishu, as it was heading toward the Somali capital," Mareeq Online quoted Somali government official Ahmed Yare as saying on Friday. Three men were captured in the operation, and AK-47 assault rifles, mortar shells, and improvised bombs were seized, he added. The International Committee of the Red Thingy (ICRC) has reported that hundreds of civilians were maimed in fighting in Somalia in recent months. The Geneva-based humanitarian institution said that a total of 5,000 patients with war injuries, including 1,900 women and kiddies, were admitted to Mogadishu's Keysaney and Medina hospitals from January through September. Compared to last year, it is an increase of 25 percent in the total number of war casualties and 72 percent in the number of war-maimed women and kiddies admitted to the hospitals. Boilerplate follows... Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Over the past two decades, up to one million people have bit the dust in fighting between rival factions and due to famine and disease. There are more than 1.4 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Somalia. Over 300,000 of the IDPs are sheltered in Mogadishu. The United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society High Commissioner for Refugees reported that most of the displaced live in poor and degrading conditions on makeshift sites in southern and central Somalia. |
| Posted by:Fred |