Fearful civilians flee

Fearing renewed warfare, hundreds of Somalis loaded up small children and household goods on donkey-powered carts yesterday in a northern Mogadishu neighbourhood where Islamist militants are taking up positions.

Fighters from the militant group al-Shabab dug new trenches and blocked off streets with sandbags, residents said, as minivans and wooden carts moved out using alleyways and side streets to avoid sniper fire. Young, barefoot children lugging bags walked for hours with their parents, some of whom used carts pulled by donkeys to leave the area.

Fighting broke out over the weekend and lasted through Monday, killing at least 20 civilians and one African Union soldier. Somali military officials have asked residents near al-Shabab-held areas to leave, and a lull in the fighting has opened a window of time for a safe getaway.

"We are so lucky to have fled from there safely," Ali Shikhow, a father of six, said as he unloaded his belongings from a minivan at Mogadishu's Hodan bus station.

"I am sure many people cannot leave because they can't afford the illogically expensive car rentals," he added. "I paid $150 to get my family and some utensils and mattresses out of there."

Seasonal rains in Mogadishu have added to the misery of both residents fleeing the fighting and Somalis living in makeshift hunger camps. A wide-scale famine in the country threatens hundreds of thousands of lives, and tens of thousands of Somalis who fled famine in the country's south now live in tents in Mogadishu made of sticks and cloth.

Tactical al-shabab pullout

Al-Shabab has controlled most of Mogadishu for several years, but the group fled the capital in August in what its leaders said was a tactical pullout. The militant group has since returned, though. The fighters set off a truck bomb last week that killed more than 100 people as students tried to learn if they had won a scholarship to attend school in Turkey.

Still, only a few areas remain in militant hands, and African Union troops are trying to push the fighters out of the last strongholds. Large columns of Somali troops and African Union troops moving toward those pockets in recent days are an indication that new fighting could break out.