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Journalism of Courage
Somali troops and their Ethiopian allies pounded insurgent positions across the capital on Thursday with helicopters and tanks, sending residents running for their lives during a fierce surge in fighting that killed at least 10 people. A witness reported seeing a dead soldier’s body dragged through the streets.
The military operation was the beginning of a three-day push to restore order in Mogadishu as Ethiopian troops withdraw. The capital has been under near daily attack from Islamic insurgents, said Mohamed Mohamud Husein, spokesman for the Somali President. “The operation will take at most three days, and it’s aimed at rooting the terrorists out of the city,” he said. Qoje Omar Gesey, a resident of the capital, said he spotted two helicopters on Thursday morning.
“One was making a surveillance and the other one was dropping several bombs,” Gesey said, adding that the bombs fell near a former market in northern Mogadishu.
Earlier on Thursday, at least six people were killed in fresh skirmishes between Ethiopian troops supporting the fragile Somali government and insurgents, residents said. The dead were believed to be civillians. Khalid Mohamed Arabey, who lives near Mogadishu stadium in the south, said the Ethiopian troops met with stiff resistance from a dozen gunmen, who used rocket propelled grenades, mortars and machine-guns. The Ethiopians responded with artillery and tank shells.
Bare Abdulle, a Mogadishu resident, said he saw the body of a soldier being dragged. “A civilian was dragging a body of an Ethiopian soldier,”
Abdulle said. He also saw four bodies lying in the street. Meanwhile, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said his country had successfully accomplished its mission in Somalia. He said extremists are no longer a “clear and present danger” to Ethiopia.
