Somali govt forces kill 500 Islamist fighters-envoy

ADDIS ABABA, Dec 24 (Reuters) Somali pro-government forces have killed 500 Islamist troops, most of them Eritreans, in two days of heavy fighting, Somalia's ambassador to Ethiopia said today.

There was no independent confirmation of the death toll. Aid agencies say dozens of people have been killed.

Ambassador Abdikarin Farah told reporters in Addis Ababa the Islamists have killed 10 government soldiers and wounded 13, adding that 280 enemy fighters were taken prisoner, some of them from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sudan.

REUTERS SP RK2230