Mortars hit a Mogadishu residential area and two men were shot dead overnight in the latest violence in a city the Somali government is struggling to pacify after the ouster of hardline Islamists, Reuters reported. In what looked like a targeted killing in the lawless Somali capital, a man was blindfolded and shot dead late on Thursday in Mogadishu's Tarbuunka Square, witnesses said. "Three men came out of a vehicle holding a blindfolded man. They shot him then drove away," said a resident who saw the assassination. The other man was shot in Bakara market, residents said. Details of both incidents were murky. But they added to tensions in a city hit by a string of attacks in recent days aimed at the Somali government and its Ethiopian military allies who helped them topple the Islamists in a two-week offensive over Christmas and New Year. Two mortars bombs fired by unknown assailants hit the northern Madina neighbourhood overnight. "One of the mortars hit a house totally destroying a room. ... The family members were lucky to survive. The second mortar fell on a road seriously injuring a pedestrian," said a resident, who gave his name as Abdirahman. Many suspect hardcore remnants of the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) are behind such attacks, but there are many enemies of the government including warlord and clan militias plus criminals.
