Heavy fighting breaks out in Mogadishu, 3 dead

MOGADISHU, Feb 23 (Reuters) Somali government troops and their Ethiopian allies used tanks and heavy artillery to battle gunmen who struck a military base at the former defence ministry in Mogadishu today.

At least three civilians were killed by stray bullets and retaliatory fire as the violence spilled over into the nearby neighbourhoods of Bar Ubah and Gupta.

''The government soldiers and Ethiopians fired back using heavy artillery as well as tanks. The fighting continued for close to 20 minutes,'' said a resident, who declined to give his name for fear of reprisal.

Interior Minister Mohamed Mahamud Guled ''Gamadheere'' confirmed the attack, but said there was no solid casualty figure yet.

Homes in the area were struck by stray bullets and shells as the government forces and a vigilante group fired back at the attackers in Bar Ubah, witnesses said.

Another resident who declined to be named said a civilian died after he was hit by a stray bullet and another was killed and nine wounded when a rocket hit a house.

In nearby Gupta, a woman died and six children were seriously wounded as three artillery shells struck their iron-sheet shacks, said a woman who witnessed the strikes but declined to give her name.

''One of the wounded is a boy with shrapnel lodged in his neck, and he was carried to the hospital with his neck hanging.

We have no hope he will survive,'' the woman said.

DAILY DEATH The interim government and its Ethiopian allies have been hit with near-daily attacks by unidentified gunmen in the Horn of Africa country's seaside capital.

They blame remnants of a hardline Islamist movement they drove out of Mogadishu and southern Somalia in a two-week joint offensive before the New Year, saying the militant group is paying 0 for each attack -- a fortune in the poor country.

Both the attackers and the government side have engendered anger among residents who are caught in the crossfire, and are fleeing the city by the hundreds.

The Islamists, who ruled much of southern Somalia for six months until they were defeated in early January, have vowed an insurgency.

Mogadishu is awash in military weapons and people with a grudge against the interim government, the 14th attempt at establishing central rule in a country without it since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

The government is awaiting the deployment of African Union peacekeepers to replace the Ethiopian troops and help stabilise Somalia -- a daunting task for a pan-African body that has struggled to keep peace in Sudan's violent Darfur region.

Uganda today said it was ready to send 1,500 troops to join as the vanguard, but was awaiting the finalisation of its mandate from the pan-African body and Algerian planes promised to airlift its soldiers and their gear.

''We will be leaving very soon,'' State Minister for Defence Ruth Nankabirwa told Reuters.

Soldiers from Nigeria, Ghana, Burundi and Malawi are also expected to join the proposed 8,000-strong peacekeeping force, which was authorised by the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday.

REUTERS SAM RN0017