Civilian killed in attack on Somali government meeting

Mugadishu, Friday, July 20, 2007 Simba Radio

Unknown gunmen fired mortar rounds at a Somali government meeting in Mogadishu on Thursday, barely missing the target but striking a nearby village, killing six civilians -- most of them children

It is unclear if he was the target of the attack, which comes amid days of heavy fighting in the Somali capital.

Most of the attacks are aimed at Somali transitional government officials working on national reconciliation, according to a spokesman for the African Union's military mission in Somalia .

The African Union Mission in Somalia , or AMISOM, is charged with helping the war-torn country rebuild.

The force also is helping to protect the transitional government, backed by the United Nations, which is struggling to establish order after more than 15 years without a functioning central authority.

Mogadishu has been a persistent hotbed of violence spawned by Somali government forces and remnant fighters from the Islamic Courts Union, which was ousted from power late last year by Ethiopian troops. Somali forces are backed by Ethiopian troops.