03/08/08 (B459) Press TV / Combats sanglants en cours à Mogadiscio / Bloody battles underway in Mogadishu (En Anglais – Info lectrice)

The Union of Islamic Courts in Somalia says it has killed scores of Ethiopian and Somali troops in fierce clashes in northern Mogadishu.

The clashes erupted at 5:30 a.m. Sunday in the northern districts of the war-ravaged city.

Ethiopian troops were shelling the neighborhoods of Yakhshiid, Gupta, and Towfiikh Arafat and just in one building 13 civilians were killed.

A spokesman for the Union of the Islamic Courts (UIC) told the Press TV correspondent that the group’s fighters launched attacks on Ethiopian and government troops in at least 11 regions.

He added more than 12 Ethiopian troops and 12 Somali soldiers were killed in the Yakhshiid district when they were trying to take control of a high-rise building.

More than five people were also injured in the clashes.

Colonel Mohamed Dahir Hirsi, a Somali military spokesman, however says the army has killed 38 UIC fighters and captured several more.

Both sides claim victory in the battles but eye witnesses said the bodies of Somali troops could be seen scattered on northern Mogadishu’s streets.