cnn.com(boldings mine)
Reports: Somali militia tax provokes violence
Monday, October 3, 2005 Posted: 1126 GMT (1926 HKT)
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NAIROBI, Kenya (Reuters) -- Six people were killed and 12 others wounded in fighting over taxes between rival militia in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, residents said on Monday.
The gunfight broke out on Sunday when local faction leader Abdulkadir Bebe tried to seize the Bondhere district of central Mogadishu to collect a new levy which is unpopular with locals, they said.
"They failed to take the area because everybody here has a gun," resident Hussein Ali told Reuters in Nairobi by telephone.
Ten of the 12 injured were being treated at a
local hospital, medical staff said.
In the 14th attempt to restore central government since 1991, Somalia's new President Abdullahi Yusuf returned earlier this year from Kenya but has failed to impose authority and has set up base outside Mogadishu due to insecurity there.
Warlords have run the Horn of African nation, of approximately 10 million people, since ousting dictator Mohamed Siad Barre 14 years ago.
Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
