Mortar bombs have killed at least 12 people in one of the fiercest bombardments of Mogadishu since the Union of the Islamic Courts was forced from Somalia's capital last month.

The hilltop presidential palace, Villa Somalia, and the coastal city's defence headquarters were among the targets of Tuesday's attacks.

Hospital sources said dozens of people were wounded.

"They showered us with rockets and a mortar also hit the compound. Luckily no one was hurt," said a government soldier who was in Villa Somalia during the attack but declined to be named for fear of reprisal.

A government soldier said: "Our troops and those from our ally Ethiopia were forced to fire heavy artillery."

"We had to retaliate. These elements are being paid to cause all this destruction."

Speaking on Tuesday from Nairobi, Kenya, Mohammed Adow, Al Jazeera's Somalia correspondent, quoted witnesses as saying that Ethiopian forces counter-attacked areas from where they thought remnants of the Islamic courts were launching attacks.

The fighting has resulted in the displacement of civilians in several parts of Mogadishu.

Mortar rounds

A woman who lives near the scene of Tuesday's attacks said several people were wounded in the surrounding streets, and a Reuters TV cameraman saw five bodies in a western neighbourhood also hit by mortar rounds.

Spate of near-daily rocket and mortar strikes have challenged the weak interim government's bid to impose security and let Ethiopian troops, who helped it oust the courts, go home.

Salad Ali Jelle, deputy defence minister, said two civilians were killed in the attack on the defence headquarters and accused remnants of the Islamic courts of paying the assailants.

But a new 24-hour, rapid-response paramilitary unit would soon show results in its fight to stop the wave of guerrilla attacks, he said.

Paramilitary force

The paramilitary force began operations on Monday after being trained by the Ethiopian troops, Jelle said.

He did not provide more details but the unit is thought to number about 700 soldiers.

With Ethiopian military help, government troops have boosted patrols and set up more checkpoints.

The attacks underscore the huge challenge facing the interim government of Abdullahi Yusuf, the president, as it tries to tame a nation in anarchy since Mohamed Said Barre, the former president, was ousted in 1991.

His administration says it is doing its best to police one of the world's most dangerous cities with little help.

PHOTO CAPTION

A Somali boy looking at the blood of his brother killed by a stray shell during exchange of artillery between unidentified gunmen and Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu, Somalia, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2007. (AP)

News Agencies