30 die as rebels and troops clash
Mortar rounds and gunfire killed 30 people in Somalia’s capital as insurgents battled government forces and their Ethiopian allies.
“There is blood everywhere and human flesh on the walls,” said Abshir Mohamed Ali, a shop owner at Mogadishu’s Bakara market.
The fighting began after Islamic insurgents fired mortar rounds at the main airport and at the presidential palace, said Ali Mohamed Siyad, who chairs a market traders’ group.
Government forces and their allies retaliated. Officials have suspected insurgents use the market as a base.
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