Somali officials said Thursday they would slap down an indefinite dusk-to-dawn curfew on the turbulent capital Mogadishu beginning Friday, as insecurity and Iraq-style attacks continue to plague the city, according to dpa. The announcement came as gun battles broke out in the city's Bakara market, followed by a grenade explosion, which killed five people and injured 10, Somali News Agency Shabelle reported. "The National Security Commission has decided that a curfew will be imposed on Mogadishu from 7.00 pm to 5.00 am, starting tomorrow night. Anyone seen outside his house will be arrested and put before a court of law," said Mohamed Abdi Warsameh Darwiish, the commission's chairman. Darwiish said the curfew was necessary to help the government rid the city of insurgents, believed to be remnants of an Islamist group that ruled most of the country for six months last year but was ousted by an Ethiopian-backed government assault. Since last December's advance, Mogadishu has seen almost daily bombings, explosions and gun battles and despite disarmament campaigns and feeble attempts at reaching out to opposing clans, the transitional government has been unable to quell the violence. Mogadishu residents said they opposed the measure. "The imposition of the curfew is an unwelcome move because as Muslims we are required by our religion to pray five times a day and two of those obligatory prayers fall during the curfew," said Yahya Dahir, a local religious leader. The transitional government - the 14th attempt at planting effective rule in Somalia - has been unable to assert control over the bullet-scarred capital. Last week it postponed to next month a national reconciliation conference - seen as the last hope to unite the warring factions - but insisted the delay was for logistical and not security reasons. Somalia was swept into anarchy after warlords toppled dictator Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned on each other.
