TASEK PAUH blogspot

MOGADISHU, 21 March 2007 (AFP) - Heavy fighting erupted Wednesday in the Somali capital leading to the death of at least 14 people in an escalation of violence which also saw angry residents attacking the bodies of dead soldiers.

Residents burned the bodies of two soldiers and dragged another through the streets recalling the similar fate of US troops in a failed UN-backed peace operation in the early 1990s.

Heavy weaponry duels across southern Mogadishu killed six uniformed soldiers and eight civilians after insurgents opened fire on former defence ministry headquarters where Ethiopian troops, backing the Somali government, are based.

Hundreds of angry civilians celebrated in the Baruwa neighbourhood as they burned the bodies of two of the dead soldiers. The crowd shouted: "You and Ethiopians will die", " Down, Down with Somali troops", and "We will burn you alive".

Nearby, a woman carrying a machete shouted obscenities against Ethiopian and Somali troops while stepping on the body of another dead soldier being dragged by a rope tied to his foot, an AFP correspondent said. It was unclear if the soldiers were Somali or Ethiopian. more..