Fighting intensifies in Somalia

MOGADISHU: Seventeen more people were killed in factional fighting in the Somali capital Wednesday, bringing the death in two days of violence to 30, witnesses said. The fighting, in the Medina area of southwest Mogadishu, is between militiamen loyal to warlord Musa Sudi Yalahow against those supporting his former ally Omar Mohamud Mohamed, better known as "Finish".

Most of the victims were civilians caught in the crossfire or killed when artillery shells struck residential houses. The dead included four children. Fighting erupted on Tuesday, but died down late in the afternoon with only sporadic gunfire heard in the area overnight.

Clashes intensified again on Wednesday morning. Yalahow and Finish are two former allies who headed the United Somali Congress/Somalia Salvation Alliance (USC/SSA) faction, but fell out in December when Finish signed a peace agreement with Somalia's interim government, which is fiercely opposed by Yalahow.

Each of the two warlords has claimed to be the head of the USC/SSA and the leadership feud is believed to be the cause of the bloodshed. "We have destroyed the military ability of Yalahow. His forces took refuge in the part of Medina controlled by warlord Hussein Mohamed Aidid," said Abdullahi Sheikh Hassan, one of Finish's allies.

Four of Yalahow's armed vehicles have been destroyed since Tuesday, including two that were taken out of action Wednesday when six militiamen travelling in them were killed, Hassan said. Hundreds of families have fled Medina and sought refuge in other parts of south Mogadishu, according to witnesses.