The shelling began Monday afternoon after insurgent fighters withdrew.

The insurgents at first initiated an attack on Somali and Ethiopian soldiers who entered select neighborhoods,  igniting an hours-long battle that killed 10 people and wounded 15 others, according to witness tallies.

The face-to-face fighting sparked in Mogadishu’s livestock market, an area with frequent insurgent attacks. Security forces had closed off vital roads and ordered business to shut down in preparation for the offensive, shop owners said.

Ethiopian soldiers stationed at various bases in Mogadishu launched a series of missiles in response, including several BMs, targeted at suspected hideouts for insurgents.

There were no immediate casualty reports from the bombing, but residents in Mogadishu’s Huriwa and Yaaqshiid districts reported that “many buildings” were hit with shells.

More residents began to flee their homes.

Ethiopia deployed its army into parts of Somalia late last year to defeat Islamic rulers in Mogadishu and install the interim government in the capital.

But the Islamists and allied clan factions have since waged a guerrilla war that has killed thousands of civilians and displaced more than a half of Mogadishu's population.

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