civilians in the past three days and forced more than 27,000 to flee their
homes, a human rights
organization said Tuesday. Some 10,000 civilians fled their homes in Mogadishu on Tuesday alone, according to Ali Sheik Yasin Fadhaa of the independent Elman Human Rights Organization.About 345 civilians have
b
een wounded in what is the worst violence in Mogadishu in recent weeks, he said. The organization gathered the figures from talking to staff spread across the capital, hospitals and relatives of the victims. The government rarely gives casualty figures.The renewed violence in the Horn of Africa nation is pitting pro-government fighters against those allied to al-Shabab, an insurgent group seeking to overthrow Somalia's Western-backed government and establish an Islamic state. Over the weekend, both sides pounded the capital with mortars and machine-gunfire. The insurgents have been trying to topple the weak government since late 2006 and the lawlessness also has allowed piracy to explode off Somalia's coast. Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991, when warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. The hawiye warlords then turned on each other, plunging the nation into anarchy and chaos. Somalia's transitional more..http://www.heraldonline.com/wire/world/story/1335441.html
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