MOGADISHU, Somalia July 28 (Garowe Online) - Somalia's government and its armed opposition have issued separate claims of victory after Islamist insurgents attacked military posts in the capital Mogadishu yesterday, Radio Garowe reported.

Dahir Mohamed Hersi, who spoke for Somalia's military, told reporters Monday that government troops killed 12 rebel fighters during yesterday's clashes.

"We killed 12 attackers and captured four of them, who are now being treated," Hersi said, adding that one government soldier was wounded.

Somali troops recently trained in Ethiopia have been deployed at two military camps in north Mogadishu's Huriwa district, an area that has long been considered a hotbed for the insurgency.

Islamist rebels attacked the two camps yesterday afternoon, using machineguns and rockets, according to witnesses.

The Islamists' military operations spokesman, Abdirahim Isse Addow, told Mogadishu-based media that no fighter was killed or wounded during "successful attacks" on the two military bases.

There were no independent reports to verify either claim, but the violence comes after days of uneasy calm across Mogadishu.

Also Monday, at least three civilians were shot and killed in separate attacks in Mogadishu.

Thousands of Somalis have been killed in the crossfire since early 2007 as the Ethiopian-backed interim government tries to suppress a bloody insurgency led by Islamist rebels.

Last month, Islamist politicians signed a peace agreement with the government, calling for a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces from Somali soil.

But Islamist hardliner Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys has rejected the peace deal and vowed to continue an insurgency that has already created a humanitarian crisis where 2.5 million Somalis are in need of food assistance, according to UN estimates.

Source: Garowe Online