Fighting resumes in Mogadishu for third day

Mogadishu, Mar 31: Artillery fire rocked Mogadishu today as Ethiopian and Somali troops backed by helicopter gunships launched a third day of a major offensive against Islamist insurgents and clan militiamen.

Ethiopia says its forces have killed 200 rebels since the assault began on Thursday. Scores of civilians have also died and hundreds have been wounded in what the International Committee of the Red Cross says is the capital's worst fighting for more than 15 years.

''I have been here 16 years and never seen anything like this,'' Salado Yebarow, who lives between the main soccer stadium and the presidential palace, told Reuters by phone. ''The whole city is being shelled indiscriminately.'' In a statement late yesterday, Ethiopia's Information Ministry said its military had killed 200 ''armed remnants'' of a hardline Islamist movement ousted from Mogadishu in a war over the New Year.

Many others were wounded, it said.

Tens of thousands of people have fled the city this month.

Reuters