The government has lost all control in Mogadishu, and chaos has taken over. Armed mobs, some of them renegade soldiers from President Mohammed Siad Barre's army, roam the city shooting and looting. Troops shouting "Allah Akbar!" (God is great!) invaded the Roman Catholic cathedral, drove the congregation out with tear gas and truncheons, then set fire to the building. An Italian priest who witnessed the attack said many worshipers were killed.
As rebel fighters from the United Somali Congress called in reinforcements, the U.S., Italy and France flew 800 diplomats and other foreign residents to safety in separate rescue missions last...
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