Somali Factions’ Bloody Fighting Leaves At Least 19 Dead, 47 Wounded In Mogadishu

Rival militias battled with mortars and automatic weapons in the streets of Mogadishu on Friday, killing at least 19 people and wounding 47.

The fighting erupted early in the morning between fighters of Gen. Mohammed Farrah Aidid and those of Osman Hassan Ali, who is also known as Atto.

It was difficult to assess the precise number of casualties in the fighting. A local journalist reported that at least 19 fighters were killed, and hospitals reported treating 47 wounded.

Abdi Hassan Awale Qeybdid, Atto’s spokesman, blamed Aidid’s militiamen for starting the fighting. There was no comment from those loyal to Aidid.

Qeybdid gave no casualty figures for Atto’s militia but said “bodies of General Aidid’s men are scattered … with no one to collect them.”

The heaviest fighting with mortars, machine guns and pickup truck-mounted automatic weapons was concentrated at a junction of the highway leading to southern Somalia.

The fighting came a day after five factions allied with Atto held a meeting in neighboring Kenya and called for Somalia to be ruled by collective leadership.

Since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohammed Siad Barre, Somalia has disintegrated into fiefdoms defended by warring factions.

Atto is Aidid’s former financier and adviser. A year ago, Atto ousted Aidid as chairman of the Somalia National Alliance. Aidid responded by naming himself president. He has since spurned negotiations with other factions, saying they first must accept him as president.