MOGADISHU, Jan 14: Clashes between Islamist insurgents and Ethiopia’s last remaining troops in the Somali capital Mogadishu left at least 14 civilians dead on Wednesday, witnesses said.

The fighting erupted when Islamist insurgents attacked an Ethiopian convoy heading to the presidential compound in Mogadishu. A heavy exchange of mortar and gun fire ensued, witnesses said.

“Nine people were killed and 16 wounded in Wardigley by stray bullets and artillery shells after fighting erupted at the Florence Junction near the presidential place,” Ahmed Mohamud Mareerey said.

He said six people died on the spot, while the remaining three died of their wounds on the way to hospital. “Four are from the same family,” he said.

Other residents gave the same death toll.

Five more civilians were killed in the Bakara market area, witnesses there said, one adding that the death toll could go higher as more bodies are found.

Four of the dead were inside the presidential palace, said textile shop owner Maryan Musa, adding that their deaths had been caused by “heavy shelling by the Ethiopians”. Another person was killed by a stray bullet, he said.

It was not immediately clear whether the fighting had caused any casualties among the combatants.

The radical Islamist Shebab has relentlessly targeted Ethiopian and Somali government forces.

Ethiopia intervened in Somalia in late 2006 to rescue Somalia’s embattled interim administration and oust an Islamist militia which had taken control of most of the Horn of Africa country.

The Islamist movement’s political leadership scattered into exile but its fighters launched a bruising guerrilla war against Somali government forces, Ethiopian troops and African Union (AU) peacekeepers.

Civilians have borne the brunt of almost daily fighting, mainly in Mogadishu. Thousands have died and hundreds of thousands been displaced, according to aid groups.

Ethiopia’s intervention failed to stabilise the country, which has had little respite from civil conflict since 1991, and Addis Ababa announced it would pull its forces out in early January.

Ethiopian forces withdrew from two bases in the north of Mogadishu on Tuesday, leaving a small area including the presidential palace and other key institutions under their control.—AFP