Suspected Islamist rebels fired rockets and mortar bombs at Somali security forces in Mogadishu, killing at least ten, residents said today.
The city has seen increasingly brazen attacks this week by guerrillas who are targeting government troops, their Ethiopian military allies and African Union peacekeepers from Uganda.
At least nine people were killed in an overnight raid on a police station in northern Mogadishu 's Daynile neighbourhood, while another civilian died when an attacker hurled a grenade at a cafe popular with military officers in the south of the city.
Mogadishu has been rocked by violence since January when the interim government and Ethiopian troops drove out Islamists who ruled much of southern Somalia for six months of last year.
Hardline remnants of the Islamist group are now blamed for an Iraq-style insurgency of roadside bombs, suicide blasts and assassinations that aid officials say is stopping tens of thousands of residents who fled the city from returning home.