Somali clan says 1,086 killed

At least 1,086 people were killed in four days of recent heavy clashes between Ethiopian invaders and mojaheds, elders from the Hawiye clan say.

The fighting erupted last month when Ethiopian occupants launched a crackdown on suspected fighters in the Somali capital, Hussein Aden Korgab, the Hawiye clan spokesman, said on Tuesday.

"Our assessment team counted 1,086 people killed ... [and] 4,334 wounded," he said.

Korgab said the death toll was calculated by a clan panel that was formed to hold talks with the Ethiopian invaders after active fighting subsided.

"We assessed battlefields, spoke to civilians, visited hospitals and areas that were affected by the clashes," he said when asked how the figure was reached.

Without giving specifics Korgab said damage to property by the heavy fighting was an estimated ".5bn".

Humanitarian groups have described the clashes, most of which occurred in around the stadium area and Al Kamin neighbourhood in southern Mogadishu, as the worst in 15 years.

A local rights group, which compiled initial figures from hospitals and witnesses, said 381 civilians had died and 565 were wounded in the four days of clashes between March 29 and April 1.

Most of the dead have been buried.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said around 124,000 people, mostly civilians, have fled the blood-soaked capital in the past two months as a result of the violence.

KC