MOGADISHU, Somalia Apr 20 (Garowe Online) - Ethiopian troops protecting Somalia's interim government expanded into neighborhoods in the volatile capital Mogadishu on Sunday, sparking a second round of deadly street violence.

At least 15 people were killed in Mogadishu's Huriwa district when Ethiopian troops entered neighborhoods deemed to be insurgent hideouts, witnesses said.

Two Ethiopian soldiers were confirmed to be among the dead. But the remaining number of dead people includes civilians and insurgent fighters.

A witness told Garowe Online that "all civilians" fled their homes in Waharadde neighborhood after Ethiopian army tanks and shells hit civilian homes.

Other witnesses said Ethiopian soldiers pulled several civilians out of their homes and executed them outside.

Two civilian men taken out of their home and shot to death by Ethiopian soldiers were named Hassan Hersi Mattan and Abdi Gutale Wardon, both employees of Hormuud telecommunications company, according to relatives.

Today's intense violence follows gun battles yesterday between Islamist-led insurgents and Ethiopian soldiers, killing at least 20 people. [ Full story]

Sudan Ali Ahmed, chairman of Elman Human Rights group, told the media that 81 people have been killed in the past two days of violence. [ Full story]

An inquiry at three Mogadishu hospitals by Garowe Online disclosed that 120 people with various wounds were admitted since Friday night.

Somalia's government is struggling to restore national order after 17 years of civil war. Islamist fighters linked to Mogadishu's former Islamic Courts rulers are believed to be spearheading the insurgency to topple the Ethiopian-backed secular government.

Source: Garowe Online