MOGADISHU, April 25: Shelling and tank fire rattled the Somali capital Wednesday as fighting between government-backed Ethiopian forces and Islamist guerrillas entered its second week, with hundreds already killed.

Meanwhile, the UN pleaded for access to bring aid to tens of thousands of displaced civilians, and the rival sides held talks in another attempt to secure a lasting truce.

Human rights workers monitoring the death toll say that at least 321 people, mostly civilians and insurgents, have been killed in the latest clashes, three weeks after similar battles claimed at least 1,000 lives.

After a relatively quiet night, Ethiopian tanks rumbled through northern Mogadishu Wednesday, firing shells in a bid to wipe out determined Islamist and clan fighters who have frustrated the transitional government's efforts to exert its control.

The insurgents, often shifting their defence positions, responded with machine-gun fire and mortar shells on the eighth day of artillery duels.

The Somali government claimed to be making progress against the insurgency.

“Most areas frequented by terrorists have been overrun in the past week,”government spokesman Hussein Mohamed Mohamud told AFP.

Witnesses said mortar shells hit a children's hospital Wednesday, where dozens of wounded civilians are being treated, but there were no casualities. “Five artillery shells have hit SOS Children's Hospital, but there were no fresh casualties,” said Mohamed Sahaal, a witness. “The shells damaged the building.”As battles continued, Ethiopian commanders and elders from Mogadishu's dominant Hawiye clan, to which most insurgents belong, met in an attempt to hammer out a new truce.

“We are meeting now with Ethiopian military officers in Sahafi Hotel and we are discussing the ceasefire,” one of the elders told AFP.

Previous ceasefire agreements have, however, been violated.

In New York, the United Nations humanitarian chief John Holmes pressed the Somali government, accused of failing to cooperate with humanitarian teams, to allow access for aid deliveries to those displaced.

He said aid groups have been blocked from using airstrips outside Mogadishu and the World Food Programme (WFP) denied clearance to deliver food to tens of thousands camped under trees in Afgoye, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) south west of capital.

“I hope that position is now changing,” Holmes told reporters at the United Nations late Tuesday after briefing the UN Security Council on Somalia.

Holmes said UN officials had secured a pledge from the government not to block humanitarian operations after a meeting in the Somali southwestern town of Baidoa on Monday.—AFP