In one of the worst flare-ups in Somalia, fighting between pro-government and rival groups has killed some 52 people, including a top army general.
General Ali Saed, senior army general and President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed's top aide, was killed early on Wednesday as rebels tried to blow up a military wagon in the capital's southern Howladaadg district, a Press TV correspondent reported.
Eyewitnesses told Press TV that four senior officers and five civilians were also killed in the attack, while eleven others were injured. Reports say that the bodies of 39 insurgents were also left behind on the scene of the assault.
In Holdon district, meanwhile, ten soldiers and eight fighters were killed, as fierce fighting continued over the night and into the early hours of Wednesday.
Cashes also broke out in Kuliyada when a military base belonging to the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) came under attack.
The mainly Burundi peacekeepers retaliated with artillery fire, killing six civilians and injuring ten others in the heavy crossfire.
Also on Wednesday, at least five people were instantly killed after a mortar shell landed on their home, injuring eighteen others.
In another incident in north Mogadishu, thirteen civilians were killed and 34 others were injured as clashes broke out between the pro-government troops and their rivals.
The latest attacks are the most deadly clashes since the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces from the conflict-torn country.
After two-decades of civil unrest, the Somali government of President Sheikh Shariif Sheikh Ahmed has lost ground in recent weeks and now controls little more than the center of the capital, with the support of some 4,000 African Union troops.
Source: PressTV.ir
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