Ramadan Fighting In Mogadishu Is "Worst In 20 Years"

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Fighting in Mogadishu during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan has so far been some of the worst in 20 years, killing 32 civilians in four days this week, a human rights group in the Somali capital said Thursday.The Elman Peace and Human Rights Organization said 18 women and seven children were among the dead, and that 82 civilians were wounded between September 5-8 as Islamist insurgents battled the U.N.-backed government and African Union (AU) peacekeepers.Western security agencies say the failed Horn of Africa state has become a safe haven for militant groups linked to al Qaeda who are plotting attacks across the region and beyond."The current human rights situation in Mogadishu is one of the worst in the last 20 years for the displacement, injuring and killing of civilians," the Elman group said in a report."From September 5-8 ... the fighting in Mogadishu during the Ramadan fasting month is the worst (on record), according to the monitoring of Elman staff," it said.
The group said the behavior of Islamist militants who launched attacks while civilians were breaking their fast with an evening meal, as well as firing mortar barrages from hiding places in residential neighborhoods, was unacceptable.It also accused government forces, backed by the AU peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi, of indiscriminately retaliating by shelling civilian areas and business premises.
REBELS CUT OFF HANDS
"Those behind the violations against civilians ... resulting in killing, injuring and destruction of public property must be held accountable," said Elman's vice-chairman Ali Shiekh Yassin...more..http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/09/10/world/international-us-somalia-conflict.html