20100618
africanews

At least 11 people were killed on Friday and dozen others wounded after rebel militias attacked the barracks of Somali government forces in Hosh, southern Mogadishu.

"Insurgents, supported by foreign terrorists, attacked our base in the Hosh area early this morning," government security official Ahmed Warsame said.

He claimed the killings of eight insurgents and confirmed bodies of three government soldiers.

"Their dead bodies are strewn across the area, we inflicted heavy casualties on our opponents," he told AFP.

No group had yet claimed responsibilities for the attacks and civilian deaths are unknown.

The Somali Islamist group of Al-shabaab controls most parts of southern Somalia, while the western backed government runs only a portion of the capital city Mogadishu, where AU sent 5,000 peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi.

Al-Qaeda inspired Al-shabaab group is trying to topple internationally-backed President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.