Somali fighting claims more lives

At least 13 people have been killed in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, in fresh clashes between Islamists and Ethiopian troops backing the interim government.

The deaths bring to at least 33 the number of people killed in two days of heavy fighting in the city.

Four civilians were said to be among the latest victims.

Somalia has been wracked by violence since Ethiopia rescued the government in 2006, ousting an Islamist militia that had held much of the country.

Tanks and infantry

Eyewitnesses say Sunday's clashes broke out in streets where corpses were still lying after the previous day's violence - in which at least 20 people died.

Ethiopian tanks and infantry battled with the Islamist fighters in the north-eastern part of the capital.

The Ethiopians encountered heavy resistance as they searched for the bodies of two of their soldiers killed in the area on Saturday.

"As we were trying to recover and bury the bodies of yesterday's fighting it again resumed at dawn this morning, today's fighting is much more heavier," local elder Ahmed Jim'ale Barqadle told our reporter.

About 100 injured civilians have been admitted to hospital - but it is believed continuing fighting has prevented many more from seeking help.

A seven-year-old girl was among the latest civilian casualties - she is reported to have died when Ethiopian tank shells hit her home.