At least 10 people died, including four African Union peacekeepers, in fighting in Somalia’s capital between forces loyal to the Western-backed government and al-Qaeda-linked Islamist rebels.

The AU troops died when a mortar hit the presidential palace in southern Mogadishu, Major Barigye Ba-Hoku, a spokesman for the continental body’s peacekeeping mission, said in a phone interview today from the city.

“We have lost four soldiers and eight others have sustained injuries,” Ba-Hoku said.

In the city’s central Bakara market, six people were killed near a jewelry kiosk, said Ali Muse Sheikh, a paramedic at Nationlink and Lifeline Africa.

The News:
http://www.garoweonl … r_Peacekeepers.shtml

Ethiopian troops crossed the border and entered Somalia.

“Around 1,000 soldiers are heading in the direction of Beledehawa and Elwak,” a source in Dolo told Addis Neger online. Beledehawa and Elwak are towns along the Kenya-Somalia border.

According to the source, nearly 6,000 soldiers are also deployed on the border town of Dolo. Dolo is a town that border Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. The troops have reportedly been stationed in Dolo for the last three weeks.

Addis Neger analyst said that the objective of the move seems to divert the focus of the Islamic militant group, Al-Shabaab, from Mogadishu, capital of Somalia. Al-Shabaab has a plan to control Mogadishu in the coming two days.

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http://addisnegeronl … roops-enter-somalia/

Russian special forces have killed ten insurgents during two operations in the north Caucasus.

Five died during a siege in Nalchik, the regional capital of Kabardino Balkaria. The city has been on lockdown overnight.

The authorities were looking for the people behind recent attacks on local police.

The area has been largely untouched by the spreading violence in the region, but there has been a recent rise in clashes with police.

At the same time, a second siege was underway in neighbouring Dagestan.

The News:
http://www.euronews. … -the-north-caucasus/

Heavy fighting between the troops of the transitional government of Somalia backing by the African Union troops AMISOM and allied fighters of Hizbul Islam and al-Shabaab has broken out in parts of Hodan district in the Somali capital Mogadishu for the 6th consecutive day.

Most of the clashes continued between Dabka and Bakara intersections in Hodan district where both Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a clerics and the transitional government forces with AMISOM and al-Shabaab forces that exchanged heavy gunfire which had affected parts of Bakara market in the capital, killing 20, wounding 30 others.

Most of the people died and wounded in parts of Hodan and Hawl-wadag districts in the capital according to the emergency traffic officials adding that there were more mortars using both sides.

The News:
http://www.shabelle. … -others-in-mogadishu

Qatar Al-Arab daily newspaper publishes a 2600-word report by Giselle Ruzuq on Qatar`s mediation between Eritrea and Djibouti.

Shaykh Hamad Bin-Jasim Bin-Jabr Al Thani, prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, announces the agreement of both Eritrea and Djibouti to mandate Qatar to resolve the border dispute between them.

This took place in accordance with the agreement which the presidents of Djibouti and Eritrea signed in the presence of “mediation witness,” Amir of Qatar Shaykh Hamad Bin-Khalifah Al Thani.

The News:
http://www.biyokulul … t.php?articleid=2964

Three men were killed in Beirut on Tuesday in clashes between supporters of Shiite group Hizbullah and a Sunni faction, Al-Ahbash, security sources said.

Mohammad Fawaz, a Hizbullah official, his aide Munzer Hadi and Fawez Omeirat from Al-Ahbash were killed in clashes sparked by a fight between a supporter of Hizbullah and another from Al-Ahbash in the mixed Sunni-Shiite Beirut neighborhood of Burj Abi Haidar in Beirut.

But late on Tuesday Hizbullah and Al-Ahbash issued a joint statement following a meeting at the offices of the Lebanese Army Intelligence Unit in Beirut saying the clash was “an isolated one and does not carry any political and sectarian undertones.”

The News:
http://www.dailystar … 118582#axzz0xelVkay9

Fresh fighting has erupted in the Somali capital between Islamist militants and government troops following Tuesday’s militant attack on a Mogadishu hotel that killed 31 people.

The French news agency reports at least six civilians were killed in the latest violence.

The al-Qaida linked al-Shabaab insurgent group claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack on the Muna Hotel and said lawmakers staying there were the targets. Four members of the Somali parliament were killed.

The hotel is near the presidential palace in a small part of Mogadishu still under government control.

The News:
http://www1.voanews. … ishu–101453909.html