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Attacks in Somalia Kill 12, Wound at Least 45
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1653872:A6F02AD83191E160E87EDCF77AA3365C9574F7DCC14957C0 Attacks Monday
night on Somali presidential palace, military base, other targets were
among fiercest since Ethiopian and Somali troops chased out Islamist
movement late last year





Somali police forces patrolling amid heavy clashes between security
forces and suspected Islamist insurgents in Mogadishu, 20 Feb 2007

Hospital authorities in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, say mortar and
gunfire attacks have killed at least 12 people and wounded at least
45.

The attacks Monday night on the Somali presidential palace, a military
base, and other targets were among the fiercest since Ethiopian and
Somali troops chased out an Islamist movement late last year.

The intensified fighting came as the transitional government said it
was launching a new, rapid-response force in Mogadishu.

In recent weeks, insurgents' attacks have killed dozens of people in
Mogadishu. A car explosion on Sunday killed four.

Officials blame the attacks on the defeated Islamist movement, which
has vowed to fight on against the government and its Ethiopian
backers.

Meanwhile, Swedish officials have confirmed that several Swedish
citizens were arrested in Somalia on suspicion of fighting alongside
the Islamists. Reports on the arrests had been circulating in Sweden
for weeks. The two countries are discussing the suspects' fate.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


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