Mogadishu, 4 August 2007 - Witnesses in Somalia say one person was killed and three others injured when Ethiopian and Somali troops were attacked during a funeral procession for a slain city official.

Reports from the scene earlier Saturday say the troops were traveling in a convoy for the funeral of district Commissioner Haji Ali Fidow when an explosion occurred near one of the vehicles. It is unclear whether the blast was caused by a grenade or a roadside bomb.

Fidow was killed late Friday when attackers forced their way into his home and shot him. He was commissioner of the Yaqshid district.

He is the second commissioner from that district to be killed and one of several slain by insurgents since the Somali government and Ethiopian troops ousted a rival Islamist movement in December.

Islamist hard-liners are blamed for the Iraq-style insurgency that has plagued the capital.

The United Nations reports the heavy fighting in the last two months in Mogadishu has forced 27,000 people to flee the city.

Somalia's government opened a national peace conference last month in hopes of ending the country's violence and chaos. So far, there has been no sign that the talks between Somalia's many clans and factions are making progress.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.

Source: VOA