Fighting in Mogadishu kills 81, group says

Sporadic street fighting between Ethiopian troops and Islamist fighters trying to bring down Somalia’s shaky government has killed 81 people in two days, the head of a local human rights group said Sunday.

“The casualties . . . were caused by Ethiopians using heavy artillery and tank shells in residential areas” of the capital, said Sudan Ali Ahmed, chairman of the Elman Peace and Human Rights Organization.

The Somali rights group tracks casualties through hospitals and morgues. The group said all 81 dead were civilians, but its figures could not be independently verified. Ethiopian officials could not be reached for comment.

Sunday’s clashes broke out in streets still littered with bodies from the previous day.

Omar Abdullahi said that the dead included two old men shot inside their homes by Ethiopian soldiers. Nasteho Moalim said her 7-year-old daughter and three neighbors were killed when Ethiopian tank shells hit their homes.