By Deodatus Mfugale

At least 15 people have been reported dead following clashes between AU peace keepers and Islamist insurgents that erupted on Tuesday this week. Several others were wounded and thousands have reportedly fled the city. The death toll excludes the one that was recorded on Monday which stood at 30.
The battle, which observers rank as the most fierce this month started after Islamist insurgents shelled AU peacekeepers positions and the latter responded with equally heavy fire from tanks and artillery. Only Uganda and Burundi have troops in the AU peace keeping force which stands at about 2,000, well below the required number of 8,000.
Clashes pitting Islamist insurgents on one side and AU peacekeepers, Somali government troops and Ethiopian forces on the other have become frequent recently, with the former gaining more ground. According to BBC, a good part of Mogadishu city is now in the hands of the rebels while government forces backed by their Ethiopian allies control only a small section of the war torn city. Analysts believe that this new development is a result of change of tactics by the insurgents, form Iraqi –style running battles to more sustained attacks.
The battle on Tuesday was concentrated in the southern part of the city with heavily armed insurgents attacking the AU base at K4 area, which strategically links the airport and the presidential palace. The peacekeepers who are in the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) responded by shelling Baraka market which has been the centre of activity for the insurgents. AMISOM spokesman Maj. Bahoku Barigye told the media that the peacekeepers suffered no casualties and denied that the attacks were getting worse with government forces seemingly losing the battle. Maj. Barigye has been in Mogadishu for eight months.
That fighting has become more fierce has been evidenced by the exodus of civilians from the southern part of the city, most of whom have lost their families and relatives and the number of the injured have outstripped the capacity and ability of hospitals to provide medical services. As fighting escalates, diplomatic sources see the Islamists , particularly the hard-line al-Shabab group, as trying to send a clear message that they could fully take control of Mogadishu should the Ethiopians leave. There are also views that increased action by the insurgents is meant to prevent more foreign intervention particularly from the AU and the UN. So far, the AU peacekeepers have done little to resolve the Somalia conflict and establish peace and the continental body now intends to hand over the responsibility to the UN which also seems to be reluctant to assume the role.
"The Islamist insurgents have decided to hit the AU hard to discourage the AU from sending any more soldiers and to make the likelihood of U.N. intervention even more remote,” a Western diplomat was quoted by the media as saying.
In the meantime the agreement to a ceasefire that was to be signed on Friday last week in Djibouti has been postponed for another 15 days. Representatives of the government and the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia led by Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, failed to agree on the withdrawal schedule of Ethiopian forces. While the government favours a “slow” withdrawal of the alien forces, the Alliance insists that the Ethiopians should leave within 30 days after signing the agreement.
ENDS.