Four people killed in Mogadishu violence

Mugadishu, Tuesday, July 17, 2007 Simba Radio

Mogadishu - Fresh violence in the war-scarred Somali capital had killed four people on Monday, a day after mortar attacks marred the launch of a long delayed national reconciliation conference.

The latest attack took place at the city's Baraka market, the scene of several deadly incidents last week.

Hussein Abdullahi Warsame, a local grocer, said unknown assailants hiding in the crowd "hurled a hand grenade and it exploded near policemen patrolling Bakara".

He said one policeman was killed by the blast and two civilians perished after the police opened fire following the attack.

Another witness said he saw the bodies of at least two people, including a policeman. Witnesses said that a hand grenade also left a Somali soldier dead and a civilian wounded Mogadishu 's Bar-Ubah neighbourhood.

Abdukadir Ali Dige said: "Two government soldiers walking in Bar-Ubah were attacked by two men with hand grenades and one of them was killed", adding that a civilian was injured by shrapnel in the explosion.

Somali government forces - backed by the Ethiopian army and African Union peacekeepers - had beefed up security in Mogadishu for the much deferred reconciliation conference, which started on Sunday.

Seven mortar shells exploded near the venue on Sunday, where at least 1 300 Somali delegates representing the fractious country's many clans and sub-clans were expected to iron out their differences.

Somalia 's embattled transitional government blamed the violence on the Islamists it defeated earlier this year with the help of neighbouring Ethiopia 's military.