A mortar shell hit a mosque in Somalia's capital on Sunday killing at least 14 people and raising the toll from days of clashes between Islamist militants and government forces to 39, witnesses said.
"The mortar shell struck at the gate of the mosque. I counted about 14 people who died instantly and 10 others were wounded," Hassan Abdifatah, a worshiper at the mosque in southern Mogadishu, told AFP.
Several other witnesses confirmed the attack.
"I was inside the mosque when I heard a heavy explosion and shrapnel was flying everywhere killing many people," Mumin Haji Yusuf, another worshiper, said.
The fighting erupted on Thursday, with a lull the following day, then escalated Saturday as the two sides battled for control over key positions in war-ravaged Mogadishu.
The Islamist rebels said they had taken control of contested areas in southern Mogadishu, but the government dismissed the claim.
"We have taken control of the ares we fought over with the enemy of Allah," Sheikh Ali Mahmoud, the rebel Islamist official in charge of Mogadishu, told reporters.
Mahmoud claimed the rebels had taken control of Mogadishu stadium, the defence ministry building and a key road all in the south of the sea side city.
But at a news conference, Information Minister Farhan Mohamoud said the insurgents "did not take any position from the government forces."
Source: AFP
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