By SALAD DUHUL

MOGADISHU, Somalia, August 14, 2007 - Grenade attacks, bombs and gunbattles killed 31 civilians in Mogadishu in the most violent 24 hours the Somali capital had seen in two months, a local human rights group said Tuesday.

The bloodshed began Monday when insurgents attacked government bases, said Sudan Ali Ahmed, chairman of Elman Human Rights, an independent Somali group. His organization arrived at the death toll by contacting hospitals and doing its own surveys throughout the city.

"Thirty-one civilians were killed and another 60 were wounded in the past 24 hours," Ahmed told The Associated Press. Ahmed said that the last time so many civilians were killed in 24 hours was between June 3 and June 4.

Ethiopian troops here to protect Somalia's government opened fire after a bomb went off near their base, he said. There was also a bomb attack on a public minibus, several grenade explosions and a gunbattle with police, witnesses and authorities said.

Mogadishu , one of the world's most violent cities, has been ravaged by fighting that pits Somali troops and their Ethiopian allies against insurgents trying to topple the fragile administration. Thousands of civilians have been caught in the crossfire this year.

Islamic militants vowed to conduct an insurgency in December, when they were defeated by Ethiopian troops supporting Somalia's government.

Somalia has been mired in chaos since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each other. Somalia's U.N.-backed government was formed in 2004 but has struggled to assert any real control.

Source: AP