Somali government troops backed by African Union peacekeepers battled Islamist insurgents on Sunday in north Mogadishu. The fierce fighting killed dozens of people. The insurgents had captured an area near the presidential palace over the weekend. This forced the African Union peacekeeping Mission in Somalia, or AMISOM, to help the government forces in the battle.
An AU spokesman said peacekeepers were drawn into Sunday's fighting by a direct threat to their positions... as the insurgents advanced into north Mogadishu. He insisted they were not fully involved in combat.
At least forty people were killed in the battle.
Authorities said there was fierce fighting as the insurgents advanced into the city in the early hours of Sunday. But they said the Islamists melted away into the city streets when government and AU forces counter-attacked.
Somali Deputy Defense Minister Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siad said, "We have defeated the enemy forces and we have pushed them back from all areas they had captured."
Somalia's interim government has been pushing for a stronger mandate for AMISOM to allow its soldiers to help government forces fight opposition groups. Ugandan and Burundi peacekeepers are only allowed to defend themselves if attacked... and protect key sites such as the presidential palace, airport and harbor.
There has been heavy fighting in the capital since Friday's expiration of the Islamists' deadline for government troops to surrender.
The Islamists intensified their efforts to capture Mogadishu... after an exiled leader returned in April and pulled the disparate insurgent factions together into an alliance.
Various Islamist groups have been fighting the UN-backed government since being chased from power two and a half years ago.
The situation is complicated by the continual splintering and reforming of alliances and a tangled web of clan loyalties.
(CCTV July 13, 2009)
