08/08/08 (B460) PRESS TV / Des doiuzaines de morts dans des combats entre les forces anti-gouvernementales et éthiopiennes au sud de la Somalie / Dozens killed in south Somali face-off (En Anglais – Info lecteur)

Dozens of civilians have died in crossfire between anti-government forces and the Ethiopian troops in southern Somali town of Baidoa.

The civilians casualties were caused after Ethiopian troops, allied with the Somali military, went on an indiscriminate attack responding to the armed men’s raiding one of their bases in Baidoa, a Press TV correspondent reported.

19 soldiers were also reported either dead or injured following the face-off during which the parliament building, government bases and the town’s airport came under the forces’ missile barrage.

The parliament building, hit with three missiles and several hand grenades, bore the brunt of the attack. 13 massive explosions were also heard at the airport while it was swarming with outward-bound civilians.

Baidoa, 250 kilometers away from the capital, Mogadishu, has been the site of shooting rampages by the Ethiopian forces, who, backed by the US, invaded Somalia in 2006.

The troops have been implicated in numerous instances of killing and plunder in the war-scarred country.