Fierce fighting rocks Mogadishu

At least eight civilians have been killed in fierce fighting that erupted between government forces and anti-government fighters in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, witnesses say.

Six members of one family - mother and five children - were killed when a mortar shell struck a refugee camp on Sunday as fighting escalated in the area.

"My wife, five children and two of my relatives were killed by the blast," Madey Sufi Moalim, who was buying supplies when the shell landed on the camp north of Mogadishu, said.

Fighting has recently increased between the Ethiopia-backed government and anti-government fighters.

In a separate incident, anti-government fighters clashed with Ugandan peacekeeping troops manning the city’s strategic K4 junction south of Mogadishu.

"We fought them off. No one was hurt," captain Paddy Ankunda, a spokesman for African Union peacekeeping force, said.

A year ago Ethiopian troops helped the Somali government oust the Islamic Courts Union which had briefly controlled large parts of south and central Somalia.

There has been heavy fighting on the streets of Mogadishu as parts of the group remain in the area.

The fighting, which has killed about 6,000 civilians and displaced hundreds of thousands in the past year, has been described by the UN as Africa's worst humanitarian crisis.

The African Union has deployed a contingent of 1,600 Ugandan peacekeepers which has failed to stabilise the capital.

The pan-African body plans to eventually deploy 8,000 peacekeepers in the Horn of Africa country, which has seen civil unrest since the former ruler Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991.