Seven Somali civilians were killed on Sunday as fierce fighting erupted between Ethiopian-backed government forces and insurgents in the Somali capital, witnesses said. Five members of the same family died when a mortar shell struck a populated area in northern Mogadishu, they said. "A mortar shell landed in the General Daud neighbourhood, killing a mother and four of her children," local elder Abdullahi Hassan Sheikh said. "There was a heavy explosion after which we discovered the bodies of five people," he added.
Other witnesses reported the same death toll. In the southern Shirkole neighbourhood, one man was caught in crossfire. "He died instantly when a stray bullet hit him in the head," said eyewitness Mohamed Khassim. "This is the heaviest fighting in recent days. They are using all sorts of heavy artillery," he added.
According to several other witnesses, another Somali civilian died when a mortar shell struck his house in the same neighbourhood.