Somali goverment assault on insurgents kills 17

At least 17 civilians were killed when Somali government forces backed by African Union peacekeepers launched co-ordinated attacks against Islamic insurgent strongholds in the capital Mogadishu, officials said today.

Among the dead were six women and a family of five whose home was smashed by shelling, said Ali Muse, the head of Mogadishu’s ambulance service. He said at least 61 other civilians were wounded in the heavy shelling and gun battles in northern Mogadishu.