|
MOGADISHU: Heavy weapons fire rattled the Somali
capital for a fourth day on Sunday but with much less intensity,
allowing residents who had been trapped since Thursday by the
pitched battles to flee.
In the Ali Kamin neighborhood and
the stadium area, where the fighting between the Ethiopian army and
Islamic insurgents had been particularly fierce, residents were
leaving their devastated homes, some with a few meager belongings,
others with nothing at all.
An AFP correspondent saw the
bodies of six civilians lying in the street.
In the stadium area, homes had
been totally destroyed by artillery fire and tanks.
In Ali Kamin, the burnt-out
remains of an Ethiopian army truck could be seen, with the dead
bodies of two soldiers lying nearby. An Ethiopian army tank was in
position on the main crossroads and the charred remains of seven
burnt-out civilian trucks could be seen.
No toll is available for the
fighting since the Ethiopian army launched its drive to rid the
capital of hostile militia, but the International Committee of the
Red Cross estimates that dozens of civilians have been killed.
According to a toll compiled by
AFP from witnesses and hospital sources at least 70 people had been
killed by Sunday. The fighting is the worst the city has seen for 15
years.
 --AFP
|
