28/08/08 (B462-B) Press TV / De récents combats entre les islamistes et les forces somaliennes causent la mort de 42 personnes dont des femmes et des enfants. Fresh Somalia clashes claim 42 lives

Fresh clashes involving Somali troops and anti-government forces has claimed the lives of at least 42 people in south of capital Mogadishu.

Somali government soldiers attacked more than six different positions in south Mogadishu in an attempt to uproot anti-government fighters from the area.

In Hodon district, more than 10 civilians, including a mother and her five children were slain, as rockets hit their houses, witnesses told Press TV correspondent in Mogadishu on Wednesday.

Unconfirmed reports say that around 11 soldiers have also lost their lives in the same district.

In another attack on Kuliyada street, armed men hit a military vehicle with Bazooka rockets, killing at least 15 Somali soldiers and seriously injuring more than 16 others.

Meanwhile, six other government soldiers were also found dead in Tarbunka square, while massive explosions forced hundreds of civilians to flee their homes from the Somali capital.

Conflict-torn Somalia, lacking a functioning government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, has seen thousands of people die in the unrest which has displaced thousands more