Gunmen target aid workers in Mogadishu

There's been fierce fighting in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, between militiamen and forces from the transitional government.

The two sides fought a gun-battle for much of the day after the militiamen loyal to the faction leader Musa Sude Yalahow attacked a compound belonging to the medical charity, Medecins Sans Frontieres.

At least eight Somalis are reported to have been killed.

More than twenty aid workers, including six United Nations staff and three MSF officials, were seized and taken to various locations around the city.

A UN spokeswoman in Nairobi Julia Spry Leverton of Unicef said negotiations with the faction leader were under way.

She said it was not clear what had prompted the fighting, which began when the militia ambushed a convoy taking the hostages to a meeting to discuss cholera control.

The BBC East Africa correspondent says the attack appeared to stem from a dispute over who should provide security for the compound and underlines the difficulties facing the government.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service