MOGADISHU, Somalia — At least 18 people, including the police chief, were killed Wed nesday after government forces carried out a predawn attack on an Islamist rebel stronghold in the capital, witnesses said.
Somali forces have been fighting desperately for control of Mogadishu with Islamist insurgents accused of having links to al-Qaeda, displacing tens of thousands of people. On Wednesday, the two sides exchanged automatic rifle fire and artillery shells, which fell on residential areas, wounding dozens.
Somali analysts said the loss of the police chief, Col. Ali Said, would be a major blow to the transitional government led by Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, a moderate Islamist cleric picked as president this year with great hopes of stabilizing the country.
