At least 17 killed in Mogadishu shelling: medical sources

“I can say this was the worst such incident recently in Mogadishu. Heavy shelling was hitting civilian populated areas,including Bakara market,Holwadag and Hodan,” he said.

According to witnesses,the clashes started when insurgent fighters opened mortar fire on the airport as President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was flying out off the country for diplomatic visits.

Sharif was heading to Uganda for an African Union summit on refugees and internally-displaced people and boarding the plane when a hail of mortar shells started raining on the area,police officer Colonel Ali Abdullahi said.

Peacekeepers from the African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM) fired back.

An alliance of the Al Qaeda-inspired Shebab group and the more political Hezb al-Islam group on May 7 launched a countrywide military offencive aimed at toppling Sharif,who has largely owed his survival to AMISOM’s protection.