Almotamar.net - MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Heavy fighting broke out for a third day on Friday in the Somali capital Mogadishu between insurgents and Ethiopian troops supporting the interim government, residents said.
Ethiopian tanks were heard firing near a government base at a former defence headquarters, in an apparent response to incoming shelling. The area has seen some of the heaviest fighting in what many residents fear is a growing insurgency.
"The fighting has just started in the Siad Barre military academy with the government and Ethiopians on one side, and the insurgents on the other," a witness, who did not want to be named, told Reuters.
There was no immediate report of casualties.
At least 16 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded this week in the bloodiest clashes since the government and Ethiopian troops seized the coastal city from rival Islamist rulers three months ago.
Residents say the latest violence coincides with widespread resistance to a government-led disarmament drive.