Al Jazeera English - News - Somalis Flee After Mogadishu Battle
The fighting on Saturday on Sunday was some of the heaviest in Mogadishu in recent months, according to locals.
Ethiopian troops helped the Somali military force the Islamic Courts Union movement out of the capital and much of the south of the country in late 2006. They have been deployed there ever since.
Mohammed Gure, chairman of the Somalia Concern Group, told Al Jazeera that the violence was a "popular uprising" against the Ethiopian forces.
"The fighters are not only from the Islamic courts, they are from the Somali nationalists, they come from the former Somali army, they also come from the children and the fathers of those who were displaced or had their homes and livelihoods destroyed by the Ethiopian tanks," he said.
"Somalia is a country under Ethiopian occupation and the Somali people are fighting to free their country."
The fighting on Saturday on Sunday was some of the heaviest in Mogadishu in recent months, according to locals.
Ethiopian troops helped the Somali military force the Islamic Courts Union movement out of the capital and much of the south of the country in late 2006. They have been deployed there ever since.
Mohammed Gure, chairman of the Somalia Concern Group, told Al Jazeera that the violence was a "popular uprising" against the Ethiopian forces.
"The fighters are not only from the Islamic courts, they are from the Somali nationalists, they come from the former Somali army, they also come from the children and the fathers of those who were displaced or had their homes and livelihoods destroyed by the Ethiopian tanks," he said.
"Somalia is a country under Ethiopian occupation and the Somali people are fighting to free their country."
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