02/02/07 (B380) BBC Mortar attacks in Somali capital. Sept personnes tuées et de nombreux blessés graves dans un attaque en plein coeur de Mogadiscio. (En anglais – info lectrice)

Seven
people have been killed and several others seriously injured in overnight
attacks in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, residents say.
Unknown gunmen fired mortars at camps housing Ethiopian soldiers on the outskirts
of the volatile city.
A BBC correspondent in Mogadishu says the attacks have stopped but residents
are still worried.
Islamist fighters said they would start an insurgency after they were defeated
by Ethiopia-backed government troops.
The BBC’s Mohammed Olad in Mogadishu says explosions were heard in several
parts of the city and government troops have sealed off the entire area close
to the main port and the Mogadishu airport.
‘Stray mortar’
Four people including a woman and two children were killed in Mogadishu’s
southern Barakat district, reports the AFP news agency.
"The woman and children were killed by a stray mortar which destroyed
their house," relative Amina Asheyr told AFP.
Mogadishu has seen a rise of violence this year since the transitional government
forces and their Ethiopian backers defeated the Union of Islamic Courts who
had controlled the city and large parts of southern Somalia.
Government officials say there are more than 3,000 Islamic fighters in Mogadishu.

Ethiopia is seeking an early withdrawal from the country despite slow progress
in drumming up an African peace keeping force.