'16 killed' in Somalia clashes

Fighting between Somali government troops and police killed 16 people in the capital Mogadishu today, witnesses said.

Police officer Ahmed Nur said the fighting began when police killed a plain-clothes soldier they suspected of being an Islamist insurgent.

He said the soldier’s colleagues arrived at the scene of the shooting in Benadir market and began attacking the police.

One eyewitness reported seeing 16 bodies at Medina hospital in Mogadishu, with some wearing uniforms. Three of the victims were women.

Hospital director Mohamed Yusuf said 30 people were injured.