Shelling 'kills Somali civilians'

Mogadishu, 22 Oct-(ANA)-Heavy shelling in Somalia's capital has killed at least 20 people and injured more than 50, witnesses say.

The fighting began when Islamist insurgents fired mortars towards the airport as the president was leaving for a conference in Uganda.

African Union peacekeepers and government troops responded by shelling insurgent strongholds of Mogadishu's main market and residential areas.

An ambulance spokesman told the BBC most of those killed were civilians.

Moderate Islamist President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who took office earlier this year, is due to attend an African heads of state are meeting in Kampala to sign the first ever convention to protect displaced people.

"Three mortars were fired towards the airport as the president was leaving, they hit at perimeter of the airport," said police spokesman Abdulahi Hassan Barrise.

The plane carrying the president was able to take off safely, he said. (ANA)

FA/ANA/22 October 2009---