Somali troops have shot dead seven civilians in southern Mogadishu after accusing them of being Islamic insurgents while a Somali aid worker affiliated to the UN World Food Programme was shot dead in a separate incident, according to witnesses.

Rival militias pounded one another today in a seventh day of fighting for control of a neighbourhood north of the capital Mogadishu, and residents feared the battle could spread to other parts of Mogadishu and push the death toll beyond 150.

Rival militia battled with rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and assault rifles for control of part of the Somali capital Mogadishu for a third straight day. Fighting has killed at least 75 people and wounded more than 100, according to medical workers.

The Somali capital reverberated with gunfire today as a battle between two clans armed with anti-aircraft weapons and mortars left at least 20 people dead and another 70 wounded in three days, doctors said.