Somali government claims success as fighting continues

Aug 26, 2010, 17:47 GMT

Nairobi/Mogadishu - The Somali government Thursday claimed it was beating off a fierce insurgent onslaught, now in its fourth day, that has claimed dozens of lives in the capital Mogadishu.

Radical Islamist group Al-Shabaab, which is battling to oust the weak Western-backed government, on Monday launched an offensive against the government and African Union peacekeepers.

On Tuesday, insurgents dressed as government security force launched a suicide attack on a hotel that killed 33 people, including four lawmakers.

The insurgents say they have gained ground from the government, which is penned into a few enclaves in Mogadishu, protected by the AU peacekeeping mission AMISOM.

However, the information ministry claimed government forces had killed 25 al-Shabaab fighters, including a senior figure, during the battles.

'The city will remain on high alert,' Information Minister Abdirahman Omar Osman said in a statement. 'We know where they (the insurgents) are targeting and we are doing everything we can, with outstanding support from AMISOM, to contain the threat.'

Hundreds of civilians fled continued fighting on Thursday, fearful of stray mortars. An estimated 70 civilians have been killed and 200 injured since the onslaught began, the information ministry said.

Approximately 6,000 peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi are propping up the government, although deployment of an extra 2,000 troops pledged by East African grouping IGAD has begun.

Uganda is keen to send more soldiers to Somalia after al-Shabaab bombed Uganda's capital Kampala - its first attack on foreign soil - in July, killing 76.

The insurgents said they carried out the bombing in retaliation for the actions of Ugandan peacekeepers in Mogadishu.

Somalia has been immersed in chaos since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

The current insurgency, which has claimed more than 21,000 lives, kicked off in early 2007, following Ethiopia's invasion to oust the ruling Islamist regime.

The ongoing chaos has attracted militants from Afghanistan and Pakistan. There are now as many as 2,000 foreign fighters operating from bases in Somalia, training and financing local militants, the AU says.