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Shell fire kills at least 18 in Mogadishu

Thursday, 22 Oct, 2009
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Somali hardline Hisbul Islam militia walk past at a training camp on the outskirts of Afgoye district in Somalia's lower Shabelle region October 20, 2009. — AFP

MOGADISHU: Artillery battles between insurgents, Somali government forces and African Union (AU) peacekeepers killed at least 18 people in Mogadishu on Thursday, residents and medical workers said.

Witnesses said the militants launched volleys of mortar bombs at the city's international airport as President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed left for a meeting in Uganda, prompting AU soldiers there to respond with artillery fire.

‘We have recovered 18 dead bodies and 58 other injured people from Bakara Market and the surrounding areas,’ Ali Muse, coordinator of the capital's ambulance service, told Reuters.

Ahmed was not hurt in the exchange of fire, the sources said.

Fighting in Somalia has killed 19,000 civilians since the start of 2007 and driven another 1.5 million from their homes.

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