Insurgents rained down mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and machine-gun fire on government-allied troops Friday, a day after the government began an offensive to quash the growing insurgency. Hundreds of soldiers from neighboring Ethiopia, who are here to protect the fragile Somali government, were under withering attack early Friday. «Ethiopian troops using tanks are in fierce face-to-face fighting with hundreds of Somali gunmen since dawn,» said Khalif Mohamed Mumin, who was abandoning his home in search of safety. «Residents are fleeing in all directions to escape the shelling.» A day earlier, fighting killed at least 10 people and wounded 50. Bloodied civilians were seen running through the streets of Mogadishu, the Associated Press reported.
