Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has named a new military chief of staff in the midst of the fighting between government forces and Islamist insurgents pushing to topple his transitional government, dpa quoted Radio Garowe as reporting today. Former police officer General Yusuf Osman Dhumal is the new military chief, while his predecessor, General Said Dheere Mohamed, is now a security advisor to Sheikh Sharif, a government spokesman was cited as saying. The shuffle comes amid heavy fighting as insurgent forces continue to push to end the short reign of Sheikh Sharif, who they accuse of being too close to the West. On Thursday, at least 10 people were killed and more than 30 others wounded in fighting in Mogadishu. Two of those wounded were radio reporters who were reporting on the battles. The UN Refugee Agency UNCHR said Friday that 135 people had been killed so far and that around 30,000 had fled Mogadishu. The exodus is a major blow to hopes for stability in Mogadishu. Some 65,000 people returned to Mogadishu earlier this year after Ethiopia, which had occupied Somalia for two years, pulled out its forces and Sheikh Sharif became president. UNHCR said that many more were trapped in their homes by the street battles and that indiscriminate nightly bombings of residential areas were taking place. Hundreds of minibuses were ferrying people out of the city, while others walked out with their possessions on their heads. Many of those fleeing were heading to the Afgooye corridor outside Mogadishu, an area with over 400,000 internal refugees, UNHCR said. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Nairobi expressed its concern about the high proportion of civilian casualties.
