Somali civilians suffering as insurgency escalates in Mogadishu

This AP dispatch contains all of the usual rubbish about Ethiopia deciding to intervene in Somalia on its own (it even gives Zenawi’s regime the status of “military powerhouse”). But the truth is that Mogadishu is now a suburb of Baghdad, with a similar toll of civilian deaths and a U.S.-organized occupation.

Casualties have been occurring when “insurgent” attacks, often grenades or land-mines, have been met by brutal and indiscriminate reprisals from occupying troops.

For example, Ethiopian troops killed at least 3 civilians as they opened fire outside a hospital in northern Mogadishu this week. Radio and press censorship has become brazen and routine, in what U.S. intervention has once again ensured has become one of the worst places on earth.

Mohamed Hussein heard the grenade explode and he froze.

Hussein, 39, knew what was coming next, because he has been through it before: gunfire coming from every direction as soldiers frantically tried to kill the person who had thrown the weapon.

When the shots finally stopped, Hussein saw four bloodied corpses, all of them civilians caught in the crossfire. It’s a tragic, common story in this capital, where streets are marked with blood and the sight of burned out cars is common. Nearly 3,000 civilians have died since December as Islamic insurgents launched a guerrilla war against the government and its Ethiopian military backers, human rights groups say.

“The whole time I was frozen in terror and shock,” Hussein said of the attack last month. “Government soldiers fired in every direction, killing four innocent people on the spot….

Posted by Szamko
Just tries to tell the truth.