ianstone
05-16-2010, 10:42 AM
Somali rebels fire mortars at Parliament as MPs meet
http://arabnews.com/world/article54324.ece/REPRESENTATIONS/large_620x350/worsomali.jpg
Somali militants from the pro-government Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca (ASWJ) group carry their weapons during a military exercise in the Bermuda neighborhood of southern Mogadishu. (Reuters)
By REUTERS
Published: May 16, 2010 16:20 Updated: May 16, 2010 16:20
MOGADISHU: Heavy shelling rocked Somalia’s capital on Sunday, killing at least seven people and wounding dozens, as rebels fired mortars at the country’s lawmakers meeting for the first time this year, medics said.
The insurgents, who have fought a three-year war against the fragile interim government, launched their attack from their stronghold in Mogadishu’s main Bakara market, triggering return shellfire from African Union peacekeepers.
“We have so far carried out 7 dead civilians and 34 who were injured. We are busy collecting casualties,” ambulance services coordinator Ali Muse said by telephone.
Muse said the death toll was expected to rise.
A police source said some rebel mortars landed near the parliament, which last met in December, but there were no direct hits.
Parliament business has been paralyzed this year, with many legislators living in Kenya, Europe and America because of security fears. The chamber has also been split by a bitter feud over the term of the chamber’s speaker.
One lawmaker said the chamber would hold a vote of confidence on the government, a vote which could in principle force the government’s resignation.
President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed has failed to deliver on the hope he would be able to unite some of the country’s warring factions and establish a greater degree of central power following his election in January 2009.
In March, the moderate Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca rebel group signed a power-sharing deal with the government but negotiations over ministerial posts have made slow progress.
Many Somalis have grown increasingly disillusioned at the politicians’ failure to curb the fighting and tackle corruption. Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab militants, and a second group, Hizbul Islam, control much of Mogadishu and huge swathes of central and southern Somalia.
No,change here then.
http://arabnews.com/world/article54324.ece/REPRESENTATIONS/large_620x350/worsomali.jpg
Somali militants from the pro-government Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca (ASWJ) group carry their weapons during a military exercise in the Bermuda neighborhood of southern Mogadishu. (Reuters)
By REUTERS
Published: May 16, 2010 16:20 Updated: May 16, 2010 16:20
MOGADISHU: Heavy shelling rocked Somalia’s capital on Sunday, killing at least seven people and wounding dozens, as rebels fired mortars at the country’s lawmakers meeting for the first time this year, medics said.
The insurgents, who have fought a three-year war against the fragile interim government, launched their attack from their stronghold in Mogadishu’s main Bakara market, triggering return shellfire from African Union peacekeepers.
“We have so far carried out 7 dead civilians and 34 who were injured. We are busy collecting casualties,” ambulance services coordinator Ali Muse said by telephone.
Muse said the death toll was expected to rise.
A police source said some rebel mortars landed near the parliament, which last met in December, but there were no direct hits.
Parliament business has been paralyzed this year, with many legislators living in Kenya, Europe and America because of security fears. The chamber has also been split by a bitter feud over the term of the chamber’s speaker.
One lawmaker said the chamber would hold a vote of confidence on the government, a vote which could in principle force the government’s resignation.
President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed has failed to deliver on the hope he would be able to unite some of the country’s warring factions and establish a greater degree of central power following his election in January 2009.
In March, the moderate Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca rebel group signed a power-sharing deal with the government but negotiations over ministerial posts have made slow progress.
Many Somalis have grown increasingly disillusioned at the politicians’ failure to curb the fighting and tackle corruption. Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab militants, and a second group, Hizbul Islam, control much of Mogadishu and huge swathes of central and southern Somalia.
No,change here then.