Mogadishu, June 20, 2007 – At least two people have been killed overnight in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, during gun battles between suspected insurgents and the police. Two police stations, one in the north and the other in the south of the city, were targeted in surprise raids.

The attacks come a day after Islamist fighters and their ousted leaders were granted an amnesty by the government.

Recurrent violence in Mogadishu has twice delayed a national reconciliation conference now set for next month.

Ethiopian and government troops ousted the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), the Islamist group that controlled most of Somalia for six months last year, in December.

Islamists and Mogadishu's dominant Hawiye clan are opposed to Ethiopia's presence in Somalia.

Landmine

Regional police commissioner Ali Sa'id says heavily armed gunmen killed a policeman during the attack in the south of Mogadishu.

A night watchman at a nearby house described the raid.

"About 15 men armed with rocket-propelled grenades and machineguns arrived at the base from the back and fired RPGs at the base before heavy exchanges of gun fire ensued," Ga'hal Yusuf said.

The BBC's Mohamed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu says one civilian was killed in crossfire during the police station attack in the north. Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports say Ethiopian troops opened fire at civilians killing at least eight people after their convoy was struck by a landmine.

"Three teenage brothers and three other people, who were repairing the roof of their house, were shot dead by the Ethiopians after the explosion blew up one of their vehicles," Haji Mohamud Igal, a relative of one of the teenagers, told the BBC.

Tuesday's amnesty offer is seen as an attempt to persuade members of the UIC to attend next month's reconciliation conference. The Islamists, however, insist that Ethiopian troops leave the country.

Some 1,600 Ugandan troops are in Mogadishu, the first contingent of a proposed 8,000-strong AU force, intended to replace the Ethiopians. Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991.

Source: BBC