2 Somali soldiers wounded in gun fight with fellow troops

Two Somali soldiers were wounded in a gun fight with other government troops today, a police officer said.

Nur Ali, a police officer, told Reuters the brief fighting took place in the Yaqshid district of the capital Mogadishu and was triggered by a misunderstanding between the district commissioner and security forces.

“The district commissioner’s home guards and security forces exchanged gunfire,” Ali said, adding that soldiers briefly seized the commissioner’s office.

The dispute was resolved, Ali said, but not before two soldiers were wounded.

Somali’s military is often troubled by low morale caused by missed salaries, factionalism and defections. The country has been virtually lawless since the early 1990s after dictator Siad Barre was deposed.

Read: Roadside bomb kills seven outside Somali capital Mogadishu

Somalia has faced internal conflict with the armed group Al-Shabaab, who are affiliated with Al-Qaeda, for over ten years. Al-Shabaab aims to implement a strict version of Islamic law across the country forcefully, regularly conducting raids and suicide attacks using improvised explosive devices.

The Al-Shabaab group is suspected of being behind the country’s single deadliest attack on civilians this month that killed at least 358 people.

Al Shabaab has not claimed responsibility for the twin bombing on 14 October that flattened several buildings but it has carried out attacks on security targets over the years as it fights to topple the western-backed government, often also killing civilians.