By Jared Kleinman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

MOGADISHU, Somalia – The latest round of heavy fighting between government forces and rebel fighters in the Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu has left at least 7 dead and 11 others injured.

The clashes started in the capital’s Abdiaziz district where forces loyal to rebel Hizbul Islam group fired a missile to a government troop vehicle, leading to heavy gun battle that killed the seven people, mostly combatants.

The latest clash compounded with last week’s deadly bombing of a medical school’s graduation ceremony, which killed 23 people, including three ministers in the Transitional Federal Government, parents, students, professors and journalists, has created extreme civilian unrest in a country already pervaded with disorder.

A civilian uprising against Al-Shabab seems to be under way, with street demonstrations in Mogadishu on 7 December, and in camps for the internally displaced (IDPs) on 8 December. On both occasions the group’s black flag was burned.

Abdi Mahad, a civil society activist who organized an anti-Al-Shabab demonstration on 7 December, told IRIN the attack was “a wake-up call for all. Up to that point, everybody assumed they were fighting foreigners and the government, but we realized on Thursday [3 December] that they are at war with us; it was the last straw.” Mahad, who is a member of a youth movement in Mogadishu, said his group was planning more demonstrations against Al-Shabab, including one by students. “We will do whatever it takes to stand up to them,” he said.

“Anti-Islamic” Mogadishu resident Ibado Abdi Mohamed did not take part in a demonstration but, on 7 December, was among hundreds of Somalis who took to the streets in protest against Al-Shabab. “I used to be afraid but no more; I am a mother and we have watched for far too long our children being killed senselessly,” she said. Mohamed said what Al-Shabab and allied groups are doing has nothing to do with Islam and accused the groups of being anti-Islamic. “Islam teaches us compassion and kindness,” she said. “What they did [on 3 December] and are doing is cruel and inhuman.”

Al-Shabab recently captured several strategic towns near Mogadishu and is in control of most of southern Somalia up to the Kenyan border. “In my opinion they are seen as occupiers in almost all areas they control, and the attack on Thursday [3 December] will only add to their isolation,” said one observer. “I think the demonstration was a clear signal to them that people have had enough of their violence and will not tolerate it any more.” The government now needs to organize and take the group on militarily, he said. “The people seem to be ready; it is now up to the government to show leadership and take the initiative.”

Somalia’s Prime Minister, Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, has called for an international peace plan like the new US strategy for Afghanistan, saying it would be more effective and far cheaper than current efforts to combat the country’s problems of piracy and armed opposition. “What is so startling is that all the conclusions are as true about Somalia as they are about Afghanistan,” he said. Like the embattled government in Kabul, Sharmarke’s UN-backed administration controls only part of the capital, Mogadishu, and is battling to subdue anti-government fighters and pirates who prey on shipping in the Indian Ocean.

Somali powerful militants are bent on overthrowing the fragile UN-backed Somali transition government, which controls little more than a few blocks of Mogadishu. Al-Shabab and other anti-government groups regularly attack government troops and African Union peacekeepers, in efforts to force them out of the country. Al-Shabab and allied groups control much of southern and central Somalia and want to impose their version of Sharia, or Islamic law, in the country.

The prolonged conflict in the country has displaced more than 1.5 million people, while another 3.6 million need assistance.

For more information, please see:

Garowe Online – Somalia: Fighting Rocks Mogadishu, Seven Dead – 10 Dec 2009

IRIN – Attack on Graduation Ceremony the “Last Straw” – 10 Dec 2009

Aljazeera – Somalia Seeks Afghan-Style Strategy – 5 December 2009