Somalis cower as fighting rages

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The Red Cross says it has deep concerns for civilians trapped in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, as major fighting goes on between troops and rebels.

The death toll continues to mount even as people cowered inside from what they say is the worst fighting in 15 years.

Ethiopian troops, in support of the Somali government, began an offensive against Islamist rebels three days ago.

Meanwhile, a human rights body accused the US of detaining fleeing Somalis in a pact with neighbouring countries.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said dozens of people fleeing the Somali conflict had been stopped at the Kenyan border, handed to the US for interrogation, repatriated to Somalia and then passed on to Ethiopia, where they had "effectively disappeared".

We don't know where to go - we are trapped in our houses and dead bodies are lying in the street Ibrahim DualeMogadishu resident

"Each of these governments has played a shameful role in mistreating people fleeing a war zone," HRW's deputy Africa director, Georgette Gagnon, said in a statement.

The US is believed to have offered support to Ethiopian troops as they ousted the Islamists, who took control of Mogadishu last year.

The US declined to comment on the HRW allegations, but its ambassador to the region, Michael Ranneberger, repeated US claims that the Islamists were linked to al-Qaeda.

Since the Islamists had been removed, he told BBC News, it became clear "that in fact the al-Qaeda connections were even more extensive than we had realised".

No formal death toll

Mr Ranneberger said despite the upsurge in fighting, Somalia was still "at the best opportunity they have had in almost two decades to achieve lasting peace and stability".

The number of wounded and killed is unknown

But for civilians in Mogadishu, that seemed a long way off.

"We have never seen such fighting, it's the worst ever seen in Mogadishu," resident Habibo Hasan told the AFP news agency by telephone.

There has been no formal death toll, but estimates of dozens are likely to prove severe underestimates, agencies say.

"We don't know where to go. We are trapped in our houses and dead bodies are lying in the street," resident Ibrahim Duale said.

Abdullahi Ahmed Gedi said: "The mortar hit our house. My wife and my daughter died at the same place, and also my brother died immediately from the attack. They used to help me walk, because I am disabled, and now two other members of my family are also injured."

A reader of the BBC News website emailed to say he had just seen his cousin being raped.

Soldiers on way

Even though many people could not make it to hospital, medical facilities were overwhelmed.

Doctors at the two main hospitals said they had received 380 casualties since Thursday.

"We are operating with only half our surgeons here, and the doctors who are here have now been working without relief for the last three days," Sheikhdon Salad Elmi, director of the city's main Madina Hospital, told Reuters.

Thousands of others were reported to be fleeing the capital.

Meanwhile, witnesses said hundreds of fresh Ethiopian soldiers were being sent to the city as reinforcements.

A resident of Beledweyne, 355km (220 miles) north of the capital, said he saw "at least a battalion of Ethiopian troops" heading south, "supported by heavy war machines".

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