Somali insurgents briefly seize police base

By Abdi Sheikh and Abdi Mohamed

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Fighting in Mogadishu killed six more people on Friday, including four orphans, a day after Islamist rebels firing grenades briefly seized a major police base in the heart of Somalia's capital.

At least 25 people have died in two days of fierce battles between the insurgents and allied Somali-Ethiopian troops that raised even more doubt over prospects for rare peace talks.

Residents said the insurgents attacked government forces in the city's Harayale district as dusk fell, triggering exchanges of heavy machine-gun fire and artillery barrages.

"A mortar round landed on my neighbor's house, killing four orphans whose father died in shelling last year," witness Osman Hussein told Reuters by telephone from the area.

Another local, Farah Ali, was leaving Mogadishu's sprawling Bakara Market when he was caught in the crossfire.

"We crept along on our chests, but bullets hit two of my friends. We dragged them off when the fighting died down."

Two men's bodies lay close to a nearby police checkpoint, residents said. More than a dozen people were injured.

Friday's clashes broke out after the rebels seized control of a police compound late on Thursday in heavily guarded streets near the city's air and sea ports. They looted weapons and burnt vehicles before retreating as reinforcements arrived.  Continued...