Mogadishu, 3 November 2007 - Fresh gun battles erupted Saturday in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

A roadside bomb exploded in southern Somalia as a convoy of Ethiopian reinforcements passed by on their way to reinforce troops in the capital, Mogadishu. 

And a grenade attack on a hotel killed one person and wounded seven others in the town of Dolow on the border between Ethiopia and Somalia.

Fierce fighting throughout the week has prompted Ethiopia to send more troops to Mogadishu.

On Friday, insurgents paraded the bodies of some of the five Ethiopian troops killed in the day's fighting through Mogadishu's streets.

The United Nations says the fighting in Mogadishu has displaced 90,000 people.

About 40 aid agencies say the fighting has made it impossible to respond effectively to the needs of those displaced and warn that a "humanitarian catastrophe" is unfolding in the region.

Insurgents and pro-government forces have fought frequent battles in Mogadishu since the government seized control of the city from an Islamist movement earlier this year.

Ethiopia sent troops to Somalia last year to help the government defeat the Islamists, who were threatening to take control of the entire country.  Somali opposition leaders based in Eritrea have vowed to fight until Ethiopian troops are off Somali soil.

Somalia has not had a stable central government since 1991.

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

Source: VOA News

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