Four civilians killed in fresh Somalia violence

MOGADISHU (AFP) — At least four civilians were killed in Somalia's war-wracked capital during a heavy attack against a police station, witnesses said Saturday.

Insurgents armed with rocket launchers and machine guns and fired rounds late Friday at the police station in southern Mogadishu and briefly seized control of it, they said.

"It was the heaviest attack against this police station since the government arrived," said Mohamed Adan Jeri, a local resident.

They also torched two vehicles while shouting "Allahu Akbar," said another resident.
The daily violence in Mogadishu has surged since an Islamist-dominated opposition group formed in Eritrea this month vowed to defeat Ethiopian troops in Somalia since last December.
Government forces, backed by Ethiopian troops, defeated a powerful Islamic movement which, for the second half of 2006, controlled much of the lawless Horn of Africa nation.

Since the movement's ouster in January, remnant fighters have waged daily hit-and-run attacks against government targets.

Somalia has had no central authority since plunging into cycles of bloodletting in 1991 with the ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

Several attemps to restore order have failed.

source: AFP