Islamist insurgency grows in Somalia

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Islamist insurgency grows in Somalia

· Ugandan peacekeepers attacked and base entered
· UN says 170,000 have fled as civilian areas shelled

Xan Rice, East Africa correspondent
Monday November 19, 2007
The Guardian

The Islamist-led resistance in Somalia is growing in
scale and aggression, with insurgents openly taking
on Ethiopian troops and African Union peacekeepers
in the capital Mogadishu, in fighting that has
killed dozens, possibly hundreds, in the past three
weeks.

Early on Saturday two groups of rebels fired grenades
at Ugandan peacekeepers and briefly entered their
post before being repelled. The attack, which
coincided with an internet call by a Somali Islamist
extremist, Adan Hashi Ayro, for peacekeepers to be
targeted, came after two weeks of fighting and
reprisals between insurgents and the allied Ethiopian
and government troops that caused a massive exodus
from Mogadishu.

The UN estimates that 173,000 people have fled the
city since October 27, adding to the 330,000 already
displaced from the capital this year. Dozens, perhaps
hundreds, of civilians were killed, as both sides
fired shells indiscriminately into residential
neighbourhoods.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2213062,00.html