Somalia: Bloodiest day

At least 18 people died and 50 injured as hundreds more fled the city on Monday as the city of Mogadishu seen its bloodiest day so far.

Heavy fighting erupted after dark, as gunmen pounded the sea port, the presidential palace and two army bases with mortars and hand grenades causing unknown casualties to the Ethiopian and "government" forces stationed there, this assault led to a vicious retaliation by the enemy forces as they used heavy artillery rounds (picture) to pound many parts of the city for hours causing mass panic and casualties.

After day break medics started to collect the dead and injured as the fighting took a break, most of the hospitals were filled by many seriously wounded people, other started to gather thier belongings and started to flee the city trying to find refuge in their clan based regions outside the capital, almost 1000 people fled the city since the last two weeks of fights. Many residents blame the Ethiopians for being cowardly and not fighting the resistance on a hand to hand combat. KC has also been informed that some warlords and resistance group have combined forces to route the "government" since most of the warlords have been denied any positions in the new government, the prime minister and the president both have not set foot in the capital for the last 2 weeks fearing the bombardment and the plotting by the resistance, choosing to stay in Baidoa.

In Jowhar the city have fallen in to a ruin, many people in authority fled the city and left the former warlord's gunmen now part of the army to loot houses and shops since most of them did not get paid by the "government".

Many people in the country are predicting a quick Collapse of the government and puppet authority once the Ethiopians leave the cities, in Baidoa around 150 warlord's gunmen entered the city after increase of insecurity in the area, Maxamed Ibraahim "Xaabsade" a warlord belonging to the Baidoa region entered parts of the city after many residents lost hope in the security provided by whats left of the "government" forces in the town, "Xaabsade" is a known ally of the former parliamentary speaker Shariif Hassan and a pro Islamic warlord government minister.

Many clans in the south of the country are angry at the warlord president Abdullahi Yusuf who comes from the Puntland region in the north which is Relatively a peace full and commercially developing region accusing him of trying the keep the south poor and underdeveloped with continuing clan violence, the former puppet army commander general Naji who led the war on the Islamic courts now appointed ambassador to Oman publicly announced in an interview that the Hawiye clan in the south would never accept a president from the Darood clan in the north, that's why there will be resistance until the "president" goes.

KC