MOGADISHU - Shells hit a crowded Mogadishu market and nearby residential area on Monday, killing at least 11 people in fighting between Islamist insurgents and Ethiopian-backed government forces. Medical staff told Reuters they had transported 11 corpses and 16 wounded people from Bakara market and the Gedjael neighbourhood after the insurgents exchanged shells with Somali soldiers and their Ethiopian military allies.Islamists have been battling government and Ethiopian troops for the past two years, since Addis Ababa sent forces to oust the Islamic Courts Union from Mogadishu. With an estimated 3,000 Ethiopians now withdrawing, some Islamist factions appear to be turning on al Shabaab fighters, a hardline insurgent group that wants to impose a strict version of Islamic law traditionally shunned by Somalis.
Witnesses said about 51 people, including civilians and fighters, died in battles at the weekend between al Shabaab and another Islamist group, Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca, as that group took over the central Somali trading town of Gurael.