Violent fighting between government troops and insurgents today erupted in Mogadishu, with at least 13 people killed in horrific scenes which saw the bodies of dead soldiers being dragged through the streets and set on fire.

The battles, which marked some of the worst violence in the Somali capital since last year’s ousting of Islamists, saw five uniformed soldiers and eight civilians killed, according to witnesses and medical sources, reported the Associated Press. Hospital officials reported dozens more wounded, with a representative from one clinic saying his institution alone was treating 36 government soldiers for their injuries. Some reports said as many as 65 were injured, warning the figure could rise.

The bloodshed, which took place across southern Mogadishu, was said to be triggered after suspected Islamic insurgents fired at government forces in tanks near a former defence ministry headquarters housing Ethiopian troops – who have been supporting the Somali government in its efforts to consolidate control of the capital.

As the violence continued raging this afternoon, photographs and witness reports revealed grisly scenes taking place, including men dragging two semi-naked corpses by the feet as a crowd kicked and pelted the bodies with stones, chanting “You and Ethiopians will die”, “Down, Down with Somali troops”, and “We will burn you alive”. Reports said both the corpses were soldiers - one Somalian, the other an Ethiopian.

AFP reported a woman carrying a machete shouting obscenities against Ethiopian and Somali troops while stepping on the body of one of the dead soldiers. Elsewhere, three bodies were hauled by rope, kicked and then set alight, reported Reuters, in what marked a grim echo of the treatment meted out to US troops after militiamen shot down their Black Hawk helicopter in a failed UN peace operation in 1993.

The images of dead US troops being dragged through the streets led to eventual withdrawal of UN forces and the start of years of anarchy in the conflict-ridden nation.

Civilians, unwittingly caught up in the stray gunfire and shelling, said the bloodshed topped anything seen in recent weeks, despite being witness to an almost daily barrage of insurgency attacks that has plagued the capital since government forces – backed by Ethiopian troops – drove out the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) last December.

“I have never seen or experienced the kind of fighting that I saw today. People were running in all directions. I saw an old man die in front of me,” said Faduma Elmi, 80. Muhubo Moalim Dahir, a resident of Al-Baraka area, said a stray bullet had killed his neighbour.

Dahir Dheere, head administrator at the Medina hospital – the capital’s largest - said he was expecting the casualties to continue coming in. “We have so far received more than 60 wounded people. We are in a very difficult situation,” he said.

The attack by insurgents is thought to have occurred after Somali and Ethiopian troops, supported by tanks and armored vehicles, entered an insurgent stronghold in southern Mogadishu before dawn where they were met by hundreds of masked insurgents.

Mohamed Ali Nur, the Somali ambassador to Kenya, said that the government operation was part of a government crackdown on suspected Islamist insurgents.

“Early this morning, the Somali forces started a military operation in Mogadishu aimed at wiping out those militiamen,” Mr Nur said. “We believe that these forces are behind the recent mortar attacks.”

After coming under attack, government troops responded by firing canon shots, according to witnesses, with Ethiopian forces also firing rockets at Mogadishu stadium where some of the insurgents were thought to have sheltered.

Ethiopia sent soldiers into Somalia in December to help defeat the UIC, an Islamic movement that threatened to destroy Somalia’s internationally recognised government. Since being driven from power though, the Islamists have waged a bloody insurgency designed to overthrow the government and force out Ethiopian troops.

The present government has so far failed to assert itself, and the African Union has deployed a small Ugandan force to defend it amid daily violence in the capital, in what is the first international peacekeeping venture since US troops led the ill-fated UN peace operation more than 10 years ago. But, as with the Ethiopia, the Ugandan peacekeepers are viewed by many as foreign invaders, and have also been targeted in attacks.

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