Mogadishu fighting kills 31 in 24 hours - rights group

MOGADISHU, Aug 14 (Reuters) Heavy fighting between Somali government forces backed by Ethiopian troops and insurgents in Mogadishu has killed at least 31 Somalis and wounded 60 in the past 24 hours, a local human rights group said today.

''The killings were from gunshots and explosions in different parts of the city,'' head of Elman Human Rights Group, Sudani Ali Ahmed, told Reuters.

''It is totally unacceptable and ... against human rights.'' In one incident, Ethiopian soldiers opened fire on a bus full of civilians, killing 10 people and wounding several others, Ahmed said.

''This was the most ugly attack,'' Ahmed said. ''Six people died instantly and another 14 were wounded, four of whom died from their wounds.'' Ethiopia denied carrying out the bus attack.

''This is a baseless accusation, as usual,'' Ethiopian Information Ministry spokesman Zemedhun Tekle told Reuters inAddis Ababa. ''We would never open fire on civilians like this.'' As the violence in Mogadishu intensified, Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi told Reuters today he was seeking to create a Baghdad-style ''Green Zone'' in the city to protect officials and foreign visitors from insurgent attacks.

Hundreds have been killed by mortar and rocket attacks and firefights in Mogadishu since Somalia's Ethiopian-backed interim government ousted Islamist fighters in December, sparking an insurgency that has forced hundreds of thousands to flee.

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