U.N. on Sidelines as Somalia Clan War Erupts Anew

Militiamen loyal to Mohammed Farah Aidid, engaged for months in a guerrilla war with U.N. forces, clashed with an old rival Monday in open clan warfare that broke an unsteady 19-month truce.

U.N. officials said at least 10 Somalis were killed and 45 wounded in fierce battles around Aidid’s stronghold. The final toll was expected to be higher.

U.N. and American troops stayed out of the fray, mindful of the heavy casualties from an Oct. 3 battle that killed 18 Americans and about 300 Somalis.

U.S. helicopters scrutinized the action all day but did not intervene other than to drop a smoke flare after a rocket-propelled grenade exploded near the Sahafi Hotel, where most journalists stay.

There were reports that Pakistani peacekeepers fired warning shots, but no reports that they had shot at people.

The heavy fighting shattered the relative calm along the city’s Green Line, which separates the southern sector held by Aidid and Mogadishu’s northern neighborhoods, controlled by Ali Mahdi Mohamed.

The gun battles began when Ali Mahdi’s supporters tried to cross the Green Line for what was touted as a peace rally.

Spokesmen for Aidid’s faction had warned Ali Mahdi’s followers not to come into their stronghold, and accused Ali Mahdi of trying to disrupt a truce Aidid ordered Oct. 9 in his battles with U.N. troops.

There has been speculation that Ali Mahdi wants to provoke conflict in hopes that the 33-country U.N. force in Mogadishu will be forced to intervene and renew its fight with Aidid. Ali Mahdi is afraid his rival will seize power if the United States, the mainstay of the U.N. force, leaves by March 31 as scheduled.