Tanks pound Somali rebels

Ethiopian tanks and artillery shelled an insurgent stronghold in north Mogadishu today, as ceasefire talks floundered and rumours spread that a top Islamic rebel had arrived in the capital.

The heavy weapons fire was in support of Somali government troops attempting to clear insurgents from a neighbourhood known for housing Islamic radicals. A missile slammed through the roof of a nearby children's hospital packed with wounded civilians late yesterday.

Leaders from the Hawiye clan were expected to meet again today with Ethiopian army officers to negotiate a cease-fire. A clan leader who attended the meeting said the Ethiopian officers wanted the elders to hand over fighters from the Council of Islamic Courts military wing, the Shabab.

The Shabab, which the United States accuses of having ties to al-Qaida, have taken credit for a string of suicide bombings against Ethiopian troops. The leader who attended the meeting said the elders denied any knowledge about the Shabab or al-Qaida suspects believed to be in the country.

Meanwhile, bodyguards linked to a top Islamic extremist, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, arrived in Mogadishu yesterday, sparking rumours that Aweys and other Shabab leaders were leading the fighting against the Somali and Ethiopian troops. Most of the courts' leadership has either fled the country, or been in hiding since Ethiopia intervened in December to prop up the government.

The shell that hit the children's hospital yesterday exploded in a ward housing between 20 and 30 wounded adults, said Wilhelm Huber, regional director for the SOS Children's Villages. The children had been evacuated earlier because shells were hitting the compound, Huber said.

Five missiles hit the grounds in the lunchtime attack, but only one hit a ward, Huber said. People were injured, he said, but he did not have details due to the chaotic situation and because wounded people were already on the ward.

Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on one another, throwing the country into anarchy.

The current administration was formed in 2004 but has struggled to extend its control over the country.