The latest attack on his government and the peacekeepers protecting his fragile administration was claimed by the Shebab, a hard-line Islamist group that launched a bruising military offensive in May 2009 aimed at toppling him. Artillery exchanges and automatic weapons fire broke out around 2:00 am (2300 GMT Thursday) and continued through the night. After dying down a little the violence resumed in full intensity at dawn.
"Around seven civilians died in the clashes, including women and children. Most of them were killed by mortar shells and stray bullets," Abdi Adan, an eyewitness, told AFP. The fighting was concentrated around the strategic K4 junction halfway between the Somali capital's airport and the port, on the edge of an area controlled by the African Union peacekeeping mission (Amisom).