Bodies litter Mogadishu streets

The bodies of those killed in recent fighting in the Somali capital lie on the streets, as sporadic shooting continues, a BBC reporter says.

He says at least 23 people died on Sunday in clashes between the Ethiopia-backed government and insurgents.

A similar number of people died on Saturday, as Ethiopian troops searched for weapons in an area seen as a stronghold of Islamist insurgents.

Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein says the government was defending itself.

But locals accused the Ethiopians of shelling the residential areas of Hurwa and Yaqshid in north-eastern Mogadishu, after they came under attack.

Among those killed was a seven-year-old girl, while a local resident said he had seen the bodies of two Ethiopians and one government soldier.

A local human rights group said that 81 people were killed over the weekend but this figure has not been confirmed.

"The government is sorry about the fighting and loss of innocent civilian lives," Somalia's prime minister said on Sunday.

"Our aim is to restore law and order through reconciliation and peaceful means, but that does not mean our troops and those of our ally Ethiopia will not defend themselves as they come under constant attack."

The UN says that more than half of Mogadishu's population has fled recent fighting in the city.

The Ethiopians intervened in 2006 to help government forces oust Islamists who had taken control of much of southern Somalia.

The country has not had an effective national government since 1991.