The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Mogadishu

Ethiopian troops shelled suspected Islamist hideouts Friday in Mogadishu, where some of the worst fighting in months has left more than 30 dead in two days, many of them civilians, witnesses said.

The escalating violence came as the Ethiopian army attempted to flush out pockets of insurgents in southern districts of the Somali capital, from which thousands of residents have fled in recent days.

Heavy fighting that erupted on Thursday spilled over into Friday when Ethiopian tanks fired shells on suspected hideouts in the notoriously dangerous Bakara market neighbourhood, killing six civilians. "A tank shell landed into a crowd in Bakara area and killed six people, including a woman and her son. Some of the bodies could not be identified because they were ripped to shreds," said Hanad Guled, an eyewitness.

An AFP correspondent saw tank shells being fired from the neighbouring Blacksea district, where witnesses said several Ethiopian tanks were posted.

Clashes had broken out Thursday in several southern neighbourhoods, claiming the lives of at least another 25 people, witnesses told AFP.

The toll for the latest fighting could not immediately be confirmed by hospital sources, but civilians again bore the brunt of the violence.

"Nine people were discovered in Suqaholaha area. They were killed in yesterday's fighting. All of them are civilians, including women and three children," Abdullahi Garweyne, an elder in Suqaholaha.