MOGADISHU , Somalia ( CNN ) -- Chaos and death on the streets of Mogadishu : unfortunately , it 's nothing new in the Somali capital . Casualties are taken into Mogadishu 's hospital on stretchers . Government forces are fighting against insurgents on this day in September in a bloody battle that leaves 30 dead . Dozens of wounded Somalis are taken out of the danger zone , some of them in the back of insurgents ' pick-up trucks . One of the trucks races through the streets , zig-zagging to the echoing booms of the ongoing shelling . The truck comes to an abrupt halt , stopping at a rare sight in the Somali capital -- an ambulance , waiting at the heart of the chaos to ferry the dead and the injured to the hospital . The wounded are transferred onto the ambulance . People shout and run as the mortar attacks continue . One woman screams over and over for her son . The ambulance is one of seven medical vehicles paid for with donated funds from local and expatriate Somalis . Residents can simply call for the ambulances without charge , and the vehicles will be dispatched to the scene . `` It is amazing , '' said Rufai Salad , one of the founders of the ambulance service in the Somali capital . `` We have this toll-free number , 777 , that you dial . Someone is giving you a free call and then coming and giving you free help . `` People here find it hard to believe it is real . '' Life Line Africa , a local Somali charity , started its ambulance service in Mogadishu in December , bringing a small amount of order to the lawless country that is in the midst of a brutal Islamist insurgency . Apart from the short-lived rule of the Islamic Courts Union in 2006 , there has been no genuine central authority in Somalia since the collapse of Mohamed Siad Barre 's repressive regime in 1991 . Now , the United States and other Western powers are propping the U.N.-backed transitional government forces in their attempt to fend off the insurgency , particularly Al-Shabaab -- a Somali militant group that has ties to al Qaeda . Watch Nima Elbagir 's report on the humanitarian crisis in Somalia » . Basic amenities in Somalia , like electricity , water and sanitation - and even luxuries such as wireless Internet facilities -- are provided by enterprising businessman , which is partly how the ambulance service came to life . In the Somali equivalent of a public-private partnership , clan elders and local businessman donated the money to fund the ambulance service , helping fulfill a crucial need . The ambulance drivers are well compensated , earning about U.S. $ 200 a month in a country where the average yearly income is $ 130 , according to the United Nations . Life Line Africa 's monthly budget for its Mogadishu ambulance service is $ 3,200 , including fuel , running costs and the salaries of the 10 drivers . They hope to increase their driving staff to 14 . Salad , 24 , is an information technology officer for the Somali president 's office , but volunteers his time to help keep Life Line Africa running . His enthusiasm about the ambulance service obscures the very real danger he and his drivers face . Part of the problem , he explains , is trying to stay neutral in a war zone . `` We did have one driver killed by Al-Shabaab , '' he admits . `` They told us that it was because we were carrying government soldiers to hospital . But I said to them that this is what we do - we are working for all of you . '' And it 's not just the insurgents that Salad and his drivers fear . `` We had to take the body of a Syrian ship captain who had been killed by pirates to the airport , '' he said . `` The government and African Union soldiers opened fire on the ambulance . We were later told they 'd received information that the insurgency was planning on using an ambulance to stage a suicide attack . '' `` But what can you do ? '' he asks . `` Our driver ran away and then later was allowed to come back for his ambulance . '' Salad says the relatively high pay is not the real reason his drivers are willing to take the risks they do . `` If you go to the area of the fighting then the combatants [ from both sides ] say 'You must carry us to the hospital or we will kill you , ' '' he says . `` It is so dangerous but when we see the problems of the people , we 're trying to find a way somehow , to keep on working . ''
Volunteer ambulance service ferries wounded civilians and fighters to the hospital . Drivers face problems from both sides of the conflict in the capital , Mogadishu . Ambulance drivers earn $ 200 a month ; national average annual salary is $ 130 . U.N.-backed transitional government forces are fighting Islamist insurgents .