Eight policemen among 50 killed in Somalia chaos

MOGADISHU, FRIDAY

The Deputy Commander of the Somali Police Force, General Yusuf Dhumal has confirmed that 42 civilians and eight policemen died during three days of clashes in Mogadishu this week. He also said that 125 civilians and 11 policemen were wounded.
The deadliest incident took place when fighters loyal to Xisbu Islami (Islamic Party) attacked positions held by Somali police and African Union peacekeepers (Amisom).
The bulk of the confrontations occurred on Tuesday and early hours of Wednesday, but lower scale skirmishes continued through Thursday.
Hardest hit
Hardest hit was Hodan district in South Mogadishu, especially along Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Road.
Since then, Amisom peacekeepers and the Somali police remain alert and major road junctions, like the strategic KM 4 leading to the Aden Abdulle International Airport, are barricaded.

Gen Dhumal did not mention the casualty level sustained by the Islamic Party fighters. Meanwhile, the officer rejected an earlier claim by the Islamist militia that the pro-government forces provoked the confrontations when their forces made suspicious manoeuvres.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has announced that 121 wounded people had been admitted to Daynile Hospital in South-western Mogadishu. Forty-seven of the wounded were women and children, indicating the severity of the conflicts in Mogadishu.
Islamic party and Al-Shabaab are some of the Islamist groups opposing the policies of the new government of national unity led by President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

They are demanding that Amisom forces leave the country and that Somalia be ruled through Sharia (Islamic) law.