22 More Die as Warlords in Somalia Battle for Port

At least 22 people were killed in fighting around Somalia’s main port, witnesses said Sunday, taking the death toll to more than 100 in the latest bout of factional clashes in this lawless country.

Fighting has raged for several days near the private El Maan port about 20 miles north of the capital, Mogadishu.

Local radio reports said thousands of people had been forced to leave their homes to escape heavy mortar attacks and gunfire.

Witnesses said at least 22 people died Saturday as rival factions loyal to warlord Muse Sudi Yalahow and businessman Bashir Raghe battled for control of the port area and a nearby hotel.

Raghe’s militia seized the Hotel Global by the end of Saturday’s fighting.

Things were calmer Sunday: Only a few sporadic gunshots were heard coming from the port area.

El Maan, Somalia’s main maritime port since the official harbor was closed in 1995, is owned by Raghe’s cousin Mohammed Omar Adan, and Raghe heads the port’s export department.

Doctors said that at least 38 people were hospitalized on Saturday, including a child who was hit in the head by a stray bullet.

More than 100 people have been killed in a three-week upsurge of fighting in the Horn of Africa country.

United Nations officials said at least 60 people were killed and about 200 wounded in mid-May in Mogadishu and parts of southern Somalia in the heaviest fighting in several months.

The country of 8 million collapsed into lawlessness with the 1991 overthrow of military ruler Mohamed Siad Barre.

An 18-month-old peace process aimed at restoring central government has failed to yield much change on the ground.