MOGADISHU, Somalia – Government troops battled gunmen who attacked the Somali president’s palace Friday night, spreading panic around the capital. A government spokesman said no one inside the presidential compound was injured.
Ethiopian and government troops rolled out of the compound and sealed off the area. There were no initial reports of casualties outside the compound.
The president and prime minister were in Mogadishu, but their whereabouts were unclear.
Government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said one shell hit the presidential palace, but that no one inside was injured or killed.
“Those who ambushed the presidential palace escaped, and this is a cowardly act intended to terrorize the public,” Dinari said.
The government has invited African peacekeepers to help provide security in Somalia, but they are unlikely to come if fighting continues. African Union officials approved an 8,000 peacekeeper mission on Friday, but African nations have yet to promise that many troops.
Khadra Dahir Osman, who lives next to the presidential compound, which occupies a hill overlooking Mogadishu, said she fled to her brother’s home after the first mortar round fell.
Dahir Adi Aden, who lives near the palace, said he saw 15 armed men run past his home after the attack.
Most of the palace guards are troops from neighboring Ethiopia, a traditional rival of Somalia. Ethiopian forces have come under attack by gunmen in recent weeks, but rarely acknowledge any casualties.
The internationally recognized government – with key military backing from Ethiopia – drove an Islamic movement that had challenged it for power out of Mogadishu and much of the rest of southern Somalia. But the potential for violence remains great because of clan rivalries, resentment of the government’s Ethiopian backers and a threat of guerrilla war from remnants of the Islamic movement.
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