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| Almost 9,500 Somalians die in insurgency |
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Wednesday, September 17, 2008
MOGADISHU: Almost 9,500 Somali civilians have been killed since early 2007 as the government battles a bloody insurgency, a human rights body said on Tuesday.
Ali Sheikh Yasen, deputy chairman of the Mogadishu-based Elman Peace and Human Rights Organization said that a total of 9,474 civilians had died in the insurgency, with 838 deaths coming since June.
Almost daily battles have blighted the Horn of Africa nation since Ethiopian troops invaded in 2006 to kick out the Islamist regime and put the transitional federal government back in power.
Islamist insurgents have since fought back, taking over the key port town of Kismayo and hammering Ethiopian, government and African Union peacekeeping troops.
Two AU peacekeepers from Uganda died on Sunday and Monday in attacks. However, civilians have suffered the most, usually perishing as Ethiopian and government forces exchange fire with insurgents in heavily populated areas.
Around one million civilians have fled Mogadishu, and the UN says that 3.2 million Somalis - 43 per cent of the total population - are in need of urgent food assistance.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
