Wednesday, March 26, 2008
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MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somalia's Islamist fighters seized control of the town of Jowhar on Wednesday after clashes with government troops that killed seven people including a child, residents and an Islamist spokesman said.
"Seven people, including a woman who was a government soldier and her small child that she was carrying on her back were killed early in the morning when Islamic Courts fighters seized the town," resident Abdi Ali Osman told Reuters by phone.
Jowhar, 90 km (55 miles) north of Mogadishu, served as a temporary base for the country's interim government in 2005.
The Horn of Africa country has had no effective government since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned on each other, plunging the country into chaos.
"The fighting between government forces in Jowhar and Islamists continued for at least 40 minutes and the troops escaped while the Islamists released all prisoners in the town's biggest jail," Osman added.
A spokesman for the Islamic Courts forces, Abdirahin Isse Addow said four government soldiers were killed in the fighting.
"Our troops entered Jowhar at six in the morning. Few government troops fought us and we defeated them, forcing them to run away. We released all prisoners in the jail," Addow told Reuters by phone from an undisclosed location. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/ ) (Reporting by Aweys Yusuf; Writing by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura)
Source: Reuters, Mar 26, 2008