| 6/1/2006, 8:43 a.m. CT The Associated Press |  |
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Islamic militiamen clashed with their secular rivals Thursday, and civilians fled the battleground near Mogadishu’s livestock market.
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At least three combatants were killed and seven others wounded in the fighting in northern Mogadishu, residents and medical workers said.
The fundamentalist Islamic militiamen have steadily expanded their control of parts of Mogadishu since February and their military supremacy is growing.
Thursday’s battle began after Islamic fighters confronted dozens of secular combatants who were heading into Mogadishu to try to recapture a base near the city’s livestock market. Heavy fighting prevented the raiders from moving toward their target, said Yahya Haji, a journalist for Horn Afrik radio who lives in the neighborhood where the fighting occurred.
Hundreds of civilians fled their homes near the market, fearing that secular militias could later push past their rivals and go on to recapture the area they lost to Islamic fighters Wednesday, residents said.
Three wounded militia fighters were taken to the Shifa Hospital for treatment and another one was pronounced dead on arrival during Thursday’s fighting, said nurse Kamal Oolool.
Two other dead combatants and four wounded were taken to a clinic in the Balaad District, 20 miles north of Mogadishu.
Somalia has had no effective government since warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. They then turned on each other, carving this nation of an estimated 8 million people into rival fiefdoms.
Islamic fundamentalists portray themselves as an alternative force capable of bringing order to the country. They accuse a rival secular alliance — known as the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counterterrorism — of working for the CIA, while the alliance accuses the self-appointed Islamic court leaders of having links to al-Qaida.
The Islamic militias are gaining ground just as a transitional government struggles to assert control. The Islamic leaders reject Somalia’s weak transitional government because it is not based on Islam.
The power of Islamic fundamentalists who promise an end to the chaos is raising fears that the nation could follow the path of Taliban Afghanistan into the hands of al-Qaida.
In the past few days, hundreds have fled Mogadishu to avoid the fighting that has killed at least 83 people since May 24.
About 1,500 people have sought treatment at Mogadishu hospitals for injuries sustained during the fighting since the beginning of this year, U.N. officials say.
Source: AP, June 1, 2006
