Five people were killed in fighting between Islamic militiamen and their secular rivals on the outskirts of Somalia’s war-torn capital Saturday.
Hundreds fled their homes but hundreds of other Somalis celebrated after the two sides ended a monthlong standoff in the Sii-Sii area, the center of many of the worst clashes in recent weeks. The fighters had been camped close to each other and violence had appeared imminent, until local elders brokered a deal.
Nearly 100 people have died in Mogadishu since May 24 and more than 1,500 people have been injured. Many victims have been civilians caught in the crossfire.
Somalia hasn’t had an effective government since warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned on each other, carving this nation of an estimated 8 million people into rival fiefdoms.
A U.N.-backed transitional government is struggling to assert control from its base in Baidoa, 155 miles from Mogadishu.
The Islamic militia’s growing strength is raising fears that the nation could follow the path of Afghanistan under the Taliban. The U.S. is widely believed to be supporting the rival secular alliance but American officials have refused to confirm or deny that.
The U.S. has carried out no direct action in Somalia since the deaths of 18 servicemen during the last intervention, in a 1993 battle made famous by the film “Black Hawk Down.”
Source: AP, June 4, 2006
