MOGADISHU, July 2: At least 53 people were killed in Somalia when insurgents clashed with Ethiopian troops and Ugandan peacekeepers in separate battles, a human rights group said on Wednesday.

The latest flare-up in the 18-month-old insurgency came a week before a UN-mediated ceasefire between an Islamist faction and the interim Somali government is to take effect.

The interim government and Ethiopia both declined comment on the clashes or any casualties.

Hardline Islamists have been waging an almost daily Iraq-style insurgency against the interim government and its Ethiopian backers since they were ousted from Mogadishu.—Reuters