115 die in government offensive on Somali militants
Published: Feb 27, 2011 19:31 Updated: Feb 27, 2011 19:31
MOGADISHU, Somalia: A government offensive against Al-Qaeda-linked militants largely subsided Sunday as officials said that at least 115 people had been killed since the violence started several days ago.
Ali Muse, the chief of the Mogadishu ambulance service, said that 49 civilians had died and 157 had been wounded since the government launched the operation Wednesday.
In addition, at least 60 militants have been killed along with six peacekeepers, according to Biyereke Floribert, a spokesman for the Burundian peacekeepers who are serving in the African Union force backing the Somali government.
Muse said heavy fighting had subsided but sporadic gunfire still could be heard.
Somali civilians have borne the brunt of two decades of conflict in their country. In November, the ambulance service said that more than 4,200 bystanders have died in warfare over the last two years.
Somalia’s weak UN-backed government has long promised a full-scale war against militants, but coordination among its poorly trained government forces has held up that push.
Al-Shabab, the strongest group among the insurgents, has pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda and controls much of the capital, and southern and central Somalia.
Somalia’s Defense Minister Abdihakim Fiqi said late Saturday that government forces and their allies are making progress in the offensive.
“The operations we started will continue until we defeat the enemy and we will not repeat the past mistakes in which territories reclaimed by our armed forces were abandoned,” he said.
The Somali government said earlier in the week that 17,000 African Union and Somali troops are involved in the assault to reclaim territories held by Al-Shabab starting with the capital, Mogadishu.