Shelling, gunbattles kill at least 17 in Somalia as Islamic militants regroup SALAD DUHUL
December 13, 2007 12:09 PM
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ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY
Associated Press Writers
Taken from Santa Barbara News-PressMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - A radical Islamic group that was driven from power a year ago by a Western-supported offensive is making a significant comeback in Somalia, and the government can do little to stop it, officials said Thursday, as shelling and gunbattles in the capital killed at least 17 people.
Sheik Qasim Ibrahim Nur, director of security at Somalia's National Security Ministry, said the government has no power to resist the Council of Islamic Courts, which the United States has accused of having ties to al-Qaida.
He said the fighters had regrouped and were poised to launch a massive attack, adding that the government has ''no power to resist the Islamists.''
Mortar rounds slammed into the biggest market in Mogadishu, killing 12 people and wounding more than 40 others. Five others were killed in a separate gunbattle in the city. The death toll was expected to rise from the latest bloodshed blamed on Islamic insurgents.
''I saw so many dead people lying on the road, I couldn't even look at them, I was so scared for my life,'' resident Salah Garweyne told The Associated Press.
At least 19 of those wounded by the shelling were in critical condition, said Dr. Hassan Osman Isse at Medina Hospital.
The Council of Islamic Courts has been waging an Iraq-style insurgency that has killed thousands of people this year.
''About 80 percent of Somalia is not safe and is not under control of the government,'' Nur told the AP. ''Islamists are planning to launch a massive attack against the (government) and its allied troops.''
Nur appealed for international support, saying Islamic fighters ''are everywhere.''
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On the Net:
State Department on al-Qaida threat in Somalia:
http://www.state.gov/p/af/rls/fs/2007/79383.htm
