A landmine killed one person and wounded eight in a rare attack on a mosque in the Somali capital today, a day of chaotic violence that left at least another 15 people dead and scores wounded.
Witnesses said the mine exploded as worshippers were going to the Abu Hureyra mosque in Bakara Market, an area used as a base by rebels fighting the government and African Union (AU) peacekeeping troops in Somalia.
Residents said nine people died when mortar shells hit a house in the south of the city, two rebels and a government soldier were killed in fighting near Bakara Market and two AU soldiers were wounded when they stopped a suicide bomber from ramming a truck laden with explosives into their base.
"We have received 57 injured people today. Three of them died in the hospital," Mohamed Yusuf, director of the Madina Hospital, said.
Insurgents have been fighting the Western-backed government in the Horn of Africa nation since the start of 2007. The rebel groups now control much of southern and central Somalia while the government is hemmed into a few blocks of the capital.
At least 21,000 civilians have been killed since the start of the insurgency. Aid agencies and rights groups have become increasingly concerned about indiscriminate shelling and some have accused combatants on all sides of war crimes.
An African Union peacekeeping force made up of soldiers from Uganda and Burundi is propping up the government in Mogadishu, and guarding key sites such as the airport and seaport.
Reuters