Mogadishu, February 09: Heavy clashes between Somali government troops backed by African Union forces and al-Shabab fighters have resulted in the deaths of 14 people in Mogadishu.
Four Somali military officers, along with ten soldiers, lost their lives on Wednesday after al-Shabab fighters attacked a military base of the transitional government troops in Mogadishu’s northern district of Bondhere, a Media correspondent reported.
Bitter clashes broke out and barrages of mortar shells were fired in the aftermath of the attack.
Meanwhile, Somalia’s Minister of Internal Security, Abdishakur Sheikh Hassan Farah, has vowed to give a crushing response to the anti-government al-Shabab group and regain control of all regions under their sway.
Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
The Somali government has struggled for years to restore security, but efforts have not yet yielded results in the Horn of Africa nation.
Up to one million people have lost their lives following years of fighting between rival warlords and because of an inability to deal with famine and disease.
There are more than 1.4 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Somalia. More than 300,000 IDPs are sheltering in Mogadishu alone.
Most of the displaced live in squalid conditions at makeshift sites in southern and central Somalia, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
———Agencies