mostly( hawiye) Habar-gidir wing of al-shabaaab Islamists attack AU troops in Mogadishu

MOGADISHU-Al-Shabab Islamist militia attacked African Union forces in Mogadishu Thursday, sparking a heavy firefight in which one insurgent was killed, officials and witnesses said. Residents said the fighting was intense and both the Insurgents and the Burundian troops basedin former Somali University Building exchanged heavy gunfire. Mortars have also been used in the fighting, which many civilians expressed fear. "Our contingent... came under attack and we defended ourselves, there was no human casualty on our side, but one of our cars was damaged," the contingent's spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ciza Justace told AFP. The hardline Islamist al-habab group claimed responsibility for the attack. "One of our fighters was killed in the fighting and two others were wounded on our side," al- Shabab commander said on condition of anonymity. Residents said at least four civilians were also wounded when mortar shells struck their houses. The Shabab earlier claimed last month's suspected suicide attack in which 11 Burundian soldiers were killed when a vehicle ripped through their camp and exploded. The understaffed AU force has been regularly targeted by the insurgents opposed to foreign troops and the government of President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. It is currently made up of 3,450 troops from Burundi and Uganda, less than half the 8,000-strong force promised by the AU. On Wednesday, AU Commission chief Jean Ping called for a three-month extension of the force's mandate.
War without Mercy the terror and violence in Somalia