At Least 73 Die In Latest Somalia Fighting

At least 73 Somalis, mainly civilians, have died in the latest fighting to rock Mogadishu on Saturday, witnesses and residents said.

The day's biggest toll came in the busy Al Barakah residential and market area, where 20 people died when mortars hit the area, witnesses said. Bodies lay strewn in the street, some headless and others mutilated beyond recognition.

Saturday's death toll is expected to soar as Ethiopian and Somali troops battled insurgents across the city, with incessant shelling in residential neighbourhoods.