Several killed in Somali clashes as US vows help

MOGADISHU, Sep 5 (Reuters) Fighting between Somali government forces and insurgents killed several people in Mogadishu today, police and residents said, in some of the worst clashes since a peace conference ended.

Residents woke to the rattle of machinegun fire as gunmen battled police and soldiers in the rubble-strewn streets of the coastal capital.

''We killed eight insurgents in the operation and three policemen were also wounded,'' said police spokesman Abdi Wahid Mohamed.

Many residents were trapped in their houses by the early morning clashes.

''I saw three dead men and six wounded people (in the street) but I could not go out of the house,'' Farah Aden Omar told Reuters by telephone.

The Madina Hospital received 29 wounded people, of whom one died, said a medical source who asked not to be named.

An African Union (AU) peacekeeping mission meant to bolster the interim government lacks resources and is badly understaffed with only 1,600 of the promised 8,000 troops on the ground.

US Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer said Congress had approved million to help fund the AU mission but conceded that a lack of training and nearly daily attacks in Somalia were deterring countries from sending troops.

''Countries are hesitant to deploy because of the violence,'' Frazer told a news conference in Uganda, which has sent peacekeepers.

''(It) makes countries rightly think twice about sending their forces there, but we are prepared to support anyone who's prepared to deploy,'' she added.

Frazer welcomed the conclusion of a six-week national reconciliation conference in Mogadishu, which critics say produced nothing but optimistic resolutions.

''It was part of a process. The success of Somalia will be a process that includes further dialogue,'' she added.

In Nairobi, Somalia's ambassador to Kenya said President Abdullahi Yusuf had given an assurance the government would fulfil the pledges made at the conference -- such as solving the crisis, disarmament and sharing of power and wealth.

Opposition figures, including some Islamist leaders, plan to hold a rival conference in Eritrea starting from tomorrow, to try to unite Somalia's anti-government forces.

Somali Ambassador to Kenya Mohamed Abdi Nur criticised the move as redundant and unhelpful.

''We believe anything organised outside the country will come to nothing,'' he told a news conference.

Somalia has had no stable leadership since the 1991 ouster of military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, and has had 14 attempts at restoring central rule.

REUTERS PDT KP2244