15 people killed in 2 separate outbursts of violence in Somalia’s capital

15 die in violence in Somali capital

MOGADISHU, Somalia — At least 11 civilians and four security officers were killed in the Somali capital Wednesday in two separate incidents of violence, an officer and residents said.

Islamic insurgents fired several mortars from Mogadishu’s main Bakara market in the direction of African Union peacekeeping bases in the capital’s south, said Dahir Mohamed, a witness.

In response, the AU troops, who are backing Somalia’s weak government, fired several missiles, some hitting Bakara market and others hitting residential areas. Residents report at least 10 civilians have been killed.

Mohamud Jama said the missiles killed three civilians and flattened six houses in Hodon district where he lives. Abdi Haji, who owns a cosmetics shop in Bakara, said he saw seven bodies, one of them a woman.

AU officials were not immediately available for comment.

Ali Muse, the head of Mogadishu’s ambulance services, said 15 civilians were taken to different hospitals in the capital.

Earlier Wednesday at least four security personnel and a civilian died when two groups of security officers fought over where to collect their salaries, said Ali Nur Mohamed Hassan, a police officer.

Hassan said the 15-minute shootout, which was later stopped by senior commanders, occurred when dozens of military officers went to a police base in the Somali capital to collect their pay. But the police told the officers to go to the presidential palace and collect their pay there. The military men refused, starting a gunfight, Hassan said. He said he was at the base but did not take part in the shootout.

Somalia’s security personnel do not receive regular paychecks, and often threaten violence, but this is the first incident where security officers have actually fought over pay.

Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991 when warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each other, plunging the country into chaos and anarchy.

Islamic insurgents have been trying to overthrow the fragile government for three years. The government holds on to a few blocks of Mogadishu, propped up by an undermanned, poorly resourced AU force.