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Civilians
shelled as FM visits Somalia: report
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ADDIS
ABEBA(March 31, 2008) - Government
troops shelled a crowded market in the Somali capital on Saturday
after suspected insurgents launched mortars at the presidential palace,
where Foreign Minister Syoum Mesfin met with Somali president Abdulahi
Yussuf, a news website reported citing witnesses there on Sunday.
According to the Garowe Online, at least 10 people were killed and
dozens wounded after several shells landed inside Mogadishu's main
Bakara market.
"Five mortars slammed in and around Villa Somalia, the presidential
compound where interim President Abdullahi Yusuf met privately with
Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin," said the report.
It said Islamist guerrillas claimed responsibility for the mortars
on a Web site posting.
There has been no official statement regarding Seyoum's unannounced
trip to Mogadishu, but government sources said the Ethiopian Foreign
Minister's discussions with President Yusuf centered around security
and the reconciliation process.
Bakara market has been a source of insurgent attacks, with numerous
government officials claiming that the market is a major base for
insurgents.
Last week, a 100-strong private force funded by traders and approved
by Prime Minister Nur "Adde" Hassan Hussein began security
patrols inside Bakara market.
The Ethiopian government deployed its army into Somalia to save Yusuf's
weak interim government from collapse, but the Somali government and
its foreign military backers have faced a bloody insurgency since.
Thousands of civilians have been killed during the insurgency, which
has displaced now over a million people from their homes, according
to the United Nations.
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