AU soldiers help Somali forces as fighting rages

MOGADISHU, Somalia — African Union peacekeepers in the Somali capital have directly intervened for the first time to support government forces fighting Islamist insurgents, a spokesman said. A witness reported at least eight people were killed on the second day of fighting.

AU spokesman Bahoku Barigye said peacekeepers were drawn into Sunday’s fighting by a direct threat to their positions as the insurgents advanced into north Mogadishu.

“Our troops were in an imminent danger, so we had to take some limited action,” he said. “That does not mean we are fully involved in the combat.”

The 4,300 beleaguered peacekeepers defend themselves when attacked but generally try to avoid being drawn into the conflict to preserve their neutrality. Their mandate includes the defense of the capital’s port, airport and key government buildings.

Mogadishu’s deputy mayor, Abdifitah Shawey, said the AU was forced to intervene after the insurgents fought their way to just over half a mile (1 kilometer) from the presidential palace.

“We lost three soldiers in today’s battle and the other side left more dead bodies behind. I do not know their exact number,” said Shawey. “Our troops are still pursuing them in the streets and through the residential areas.”

Government commander Salad Ali Jelleh said there had been fierce fighting as the insurgents advanced into the city in the early hours but the Islamists melted away into the city streets when government and AU forces counterattacked.

Local resident Abdi Muhumed said he had seen eight dead fighters. Ali Muse of Mogadishu Lifeline and Nationlink Ambulance said at least 16 people had been injured by shelling in residential neighborhoods but many areas were too dangerous to travel to.

There has been heavy fighting in the capital since Friday’s expiration of the Islamists’ deadline for government troops to surrender. The Islamists intensified their efforts to capture Mogadishu after an exiled leader returned in April and pulled the disparate insurgent factions together into an alliance.

Various Islamist groups have been fighting the U.N.-backed government since being chased from power 2 1/2 years ago. The situation is complicated by the continual splintering and reforming of alliances and a tangled web of clan loyalties.

The international community had hoped the election of a moderate former Islamist fighter to the presidency early this year, and his subsequent implementation of Sharia law, would help undercut the insurgency. But the president’s former allies in the insurgency have fought on, reinforced by hundreds of foreign fighters, and weapons and support from Eritrea.

The impoverished Horn of Africa nation has not had a functioning government for 18 years.