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At least 22 people have been killed in heavy fighting between fighters and government forces in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu.
Government forces attacked fighter positions on Wednesday, in the latest string of offensives to try and dislodge the fighters from the capital.
Witnesses said in one attack, a mortar bomb killed eight people, including five children, in one house in Bakara market, an anti-government fighters' stronghold.
"From the window of our house I have seen three civilians who died in the fighting lying in street. I have also seen two dead fighters on a pick up truck," a resident of Hassan Kasim Ali said.
Fighters linked to al-Qaeda have stepped up attacks on the government in the past two months, to try and oust Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the Somali president.
Fierce clashes have killed nearly 300 people since early May.
Bodies lay in the streets and hospital wards were packed with casualties on Wednesday.
Dahir Dhere, deputy director of the Madina hospital in Mogadishu, said: "We have received 50 people injured in today's fighting."
Police chief killed
Among the victims of Wednesday's violence was Ali Said, a Mogadishu police chief.
People in various parts of the city were struck by stray bullets.
"The commander died in the fighting this morning when the troops overran the opposition trenches," Abdiqadir Odweyne, a senior police official, said.
The al-Shabaab group has so far resisted government attempts drive its fighters from Mogadishu and the fighters, along with its allies Hizbul Islam, now control most of southern Somalia bordering Kenya and parts of the central region.
Analysts say the fighting in Mogadishu is the worst for years and the chances of any negotiated peace are waning.
African Union peacekeepers are protecting vital Somali sites, but government forces have so far lacked the strength to win back territory within or outside Mogadishu.
The government says it is confident of retaking major towns, but has called on African and Western nations to deliver on promises of logistical and financial support.
PHOTO CAPTION
Somali fighters patrol the streets at the Tarbunka area in Mogadishu, June 17, 2009.
Agencies
