Mogadishu residents flee Somali rebel clashes

By Mustafa Haji Abdinur |

• African Union Mission for Somalia (AMISOM) soldiers walk past destroyed buildings …
• Aid is slowly trickling into Somalia to help the hundreds of thousands of people …

Residents of Somalia's war-torn capital fled fighting Monday after remnants of extremist Shebab rebel forces, who pulled out of Mogadishu at the weekend, battled with government troops overnight.

"We are very worried, and many people have already fled to stay away from the firing," said Abdulahi Duale, a resident from the famine-stricken capital's northern Suqaholaha district.

"We could hear shooting close to our neighbourhood," he added.
The Al Qaeda-affiliated rebels -- who had been controlling around half of Mogadishu -- abandoned their positions in a surprise withdrawal on Saturday.
Fighting late on Sunday took place in several locations in the south and north of the city, as African Union-backed government troops set up bases in former Shebab strongholds.
"We could hear the heavy fighting on Sunday night," said Huda Ali, another resident.
"We are planning to flee because there are stray bullets reaching close to us now."

Government officials celebrated the hardline rebel pullout, but the Shebab say it is merely "a change of military tactics."

"It was the second day of our changed tactics, and the mujahideen fighters carried out at least five attacks," Shebab spokesman Abdulaziz Abu Musab told reporters.
"We have inflicted heavy loses on the enemy... where the Christian invading forces tried to expand," he added.
However, government forces dismissed the rebel claims, reporting only sporadic shooting as soldiers moved cautiously into former Shebab-held areas.
"Our forces are making a gradual advancement into areas of the city where the Islamist militants have left," said Abdikarin Dhegobadan, a senior government officer.
"There no resistance we are encountering so far -- the very few rebels remaining are running away, and just firing shots from faraway," he added.
The city was quieter on Monday morning after fighting during the night, but residents were still moving fearing further conflict.
Meanwhile aid efforts continue to reach some 100,000 people who have fled to Mogadishu over the past two months in search of food, water and shelter.

The UN refugee agency is due to airlift urgent supplies into Mogadishu later on Monday -- the agency's first such operation in five years.

The UN has officially declared famine for the first time this century in Somalia, including in Mogadishu and in four southern Somali regions, and warned that the famine could spread.

Much of southern Somalia -- including the majority of regions declared to be in famine by the UN -- is controlled by Shebab rebels, who continue to ban several key aid agencies from operating.

Drought-hit Somalia is "the most severe humanitarian crisis in the world today and Africa's worst food security crisis since Somalia's 1991-92 famine," the UN has warned.

Parts of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda have also been hit by the Horn of Africa's worst drought in decades.

The Shebab had for two years been promising to topple the Western-backed government in Mogadishu, but always fell short of smashing its last defences despite a deadly and costly offensive.