Heavy blasts rock Somali capital

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/africa/6353425.stm

Version 0 of 1.

Three people have been killed and several wounded during six explosions in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu.

A BBC correspondent says the early morning attacks are the heaviest since Islamists were defeated by government troops backed by Ethiopia.

Heavy shelling was also reported on Sunday night near Villa Somalia, President Abdullahi Yusuf's residence in the south of the capital.

The African Union is trying to send a peacekeeping force to Somalia.

But the AU has only managed to raise half of the required 8,000 troops.

Only Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana and Burundi have pledged to contribute to the force, which is due to replace the Ethiopians, who have started to withdraw.

General injured

The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu says a six-year old child and his father were killed in one of the explosions in which a rocket flattened their house.

Government forces engaged unknown assailants for several hours near the presidential villa, after rockets were fired at the compound, our correspondent says.

There are fears of anarchy in Somalia without peacekeepersAt the weekend, four people were killed and several others were injured when a bomb exploded in the southern port town of Kismayo.

Somali military chief General Abdi Mohammed was among those injured at the attack in Kismayo, during a pro-government rally.

Dozens of people have been killed in a series of attacks in Mogadishu since the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) was ousted from the city they had controlled for six months.

No group has claimed responsibility but the government blames the remnants of the UIC forces, saying some 3,500 Islamist fighters are hiding in Mogadishu.

Somalia has not had an effective national government for 16 years.