Fighting rages on in Mogadishu

By Sahal Abdulle

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - The Somali government said on Thursday that al Qaeda had made a young militant Islamist commander its leader in Mogadishu as fighting raged for a second day in the coastal capital.

Deputy Defence Minister Salad Ali Jelle told a news conference Aden Hashi Ayro -- an Afghanistan-trained commander in his 30s who runs the Islamists' feared Shabab, or military wing -- was personally directing the growing insurgency.

"The government is being targeted by those who used to work with terrorists, the so-called Islamic Courts," Jelle said. "And after they had a long consultation with al Qaeda, they named Aden Hashi Ayro as head of (al Qaeda) operations in Mogadishu."

The United States and the Somali government have long accused Ayro, and other Islamist leaders, of links to al Qaeda. But some critics say the government paints its political rivals as terrorists to secure more backing from Washington.

Thursday's accusation came as insurgents again battled Somali government forces and their Ethiopian military allies, forcing hundreds of families to flee in the worst fighting in the Horn of Africa nation since a war at the end of 2006.

After heavy clashes on Wednesday that killed at least 16 and saw soldiers' bodies dragged through the streets and burnt, fighting reignited in the city when Ethiopian tanks guarding a Somali government base opened fire on unidentified attackers.

Witnesses said the cannons thundered repeatedly over a 10-minute period, followed by the clatter of machineguns around the base, situated in a former defence department headquarters.

ECHOES OF U.S. MISSION