Somalia's Al Qaeda-inspired Shebab militants launched a fresh offensive in Mogadishu Thursday, sparking clashes that killed at least 19 civilians, medics and witnesses said.

The insurgents attacked positions held by government forces and troops from the African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in several districts of the beleaguered capital.

"We have counted 19 civilians killed in the clashes so far. At least 86 others were also wounded," said Ali Muse, the head of Mogadishu's ambulance services.

Disaster
Mr Muse said that most of the dead civilians were killed in the Bakara market area, a Shebab stronghold, when government and AMISOM forces fired retaliatory mortar rounds. "It is a disaster, the shelling is indiscriminate, they are killing innocent civilians in a densely populated market place," he said.

Abdirahman Adan, an eyewitness in Bakara, said at least nine of the victims were killed by the same hit. “I have never seen such bloodshed. Nine people died in one spot in Bakara and nearly 20 others were wounded," he said. "I was completely shocked when I saw so many dead bodies, some of them torn to pieces."

Ordinary civilians?
"By the time they reach the hospitals, the bodies have been stripped of weapons, ammunition and other paraphernalia, and they look like ordinary civilians," the Somali ministry of information said in a recent statement.

"We know civilians have been hurt and killed in the violence, especially when they have been deliberately targeted, but we suspect that some of the reported civilian deaths may actually have been extremists killed in the fighting," the statement said.

On August 23, the Shebab, who control most of southern and central Somalia, announced a major offensive "to eliminate the invading Christians and their apostate government."

source: AFP