Fighting continues in Somali captial

A suicide bomber in Somalia killed a civilian and six government officials in the capital that has seen widespread violence between Islamists and pro-government militants over the last 18 years.

The bomber drove his truck to the front of a military base, and then detonated.

“A speeding car laden with explosives entered the camp and exploded inside,” Deputy Mogadishu Governor Abdifatah Shaweye told reporters.

“There was a suicide car bomb in our camp and we lost six soldiers and one civilian also died nearby,” Lieutenant-Colonel Abdulahi Ousman Agey, the commander of Hamadhwr camp, said.

“The bomber tried to enter inside the camp but he was stopped by the guards and exploded his car.”

The bombing comes one day after 8,000 people fled the capital of Mogadishu, due to ongoing violence, reported the United Nations.

There was no organizational claim for the attack, but recent violence has been aimed at removing the current president from power. According to Al-Jazerra News, rounds of ammunition were fired at the presidential palace and African Union peacekeepers.

Fighting heightened in the last few months in the capital of Somalia, with the President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed urging Islamic insurgents to negotiate as thousands of civilians were being displaced daily.

“Unfortunately, due to heavy fighting on Friday 22nd, the number of displaced from Mogadishu sharply increased,” the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said.

“An estimated 8,000 were displaced on Friday only, bringing the total number to 57,000,” it said in a statement.

The government said that additional foreigners have joined the Islamist groups, aiding in their plight to topple to capital.

The United Nations refugee agency reported that about 30,000 people have been displaced from their homes last week. It is also estimated at 16,000 innocent civilians have been killed since 2007 and more than one million people are internally displaced.