Ten dead in Somalia violence

MOGADISHU - Five Somali government troops and five civilians have been killed in two separate incidents near Mogadishu and in the south of the country, witnesses and officials said.Gunmen attacked a checkpoint just south of Mogadishu, on the main road to the town of Afgoye and southern Somalia."Five government soldiers were killed," a government official said on condition of anonymity, adding that a woman was also caught in the fire.The gunmen made away with the soldiers’ weapons and some money they had been collecting from the checkpoint, which served as a tax collection point for the ministry of transport and Mogadishu authorities.The official said the checkpoint was reinforced and a massive sweep of the area was launched to hunt the attackers. Several suspects were detained."Those who attacked the checkpoint on the outskirts of Mogadishu are being pursued by the security forces after their identity was discovered," deputy governor Abdulfattah Ibrahim Shaweye told AFP."Those who were arrested by the government gave us important information which will help us capture or kill the attackers," he said.There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Islamist insurgents have been attacking government forces and the Ethiopian and African Union (AU) troops supporting them.Ethiopia came to the rescue of the embattled transitional Somali government in late 2006 and defeated a fundamentalist Islamic militia which briefly controlled large parts of the Horn of Africa country.
The militia’s political leadership has largely regrouped in neighbouring Eritrea but its armed wing has waged a bruising guerrilla war against the government, initially in Mogadishu but increasingly in other regions.In the Lower Shabelle region, south of the capital, four civilians were killed and three wounded during fighting between Ethiopian forces and insurgents, witnesses said."All those who were killed and wounded were civilians living in the village" of Gobale, local resident Ahmed Nur Mualim Hasan told AFP. Other witnesses confirmed the death toll.It was not immediately known if the clashes also claimed lives in Ethiopian and insurgent ranks.
Witnesses said the fighting erupted when Ethiopian troops pursued insurgents attacking convoys.