11 dead as shells hit Mogadishu market

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 reporters 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.