By Aweys Yusuf
MOGADISHU, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Residents found at least 17 more bodies on Saturday in Mogadishu, bringing the number of people killed to about 60 after two days of reprisal attacks by Ethiopian soldiers.
The Ethiopian military have carried out operations against insurgent strongholds after at least three dead Ethiopians were dragged through the streets after being killed in battles with rebels on Thursday.
Though there was no fighting on Saturday, Ethiopian soldiers patrolled in force throughout the capital where they and their allies in the interim Somali government are battling a persistent revolt by hardline Islamists.
The rebels were ousted from Mogadishu in late December 2006, but since then the government and Ethiopia have struggled to rein in the anarchy besetting the city. Insurgent attacks occur regularly and occasionally flare up into major bouts of fighting that have sent hundreds of thousands fleeing.
"We were trying to collect at least 17 dead bodies, but Ethiopian tanks and troops moved towards us so we ran away," said Omar Ahmed, a resident of Mogadishu's Blacksea neighbourhood.
Ethiopians struck that area and others on Thursday and Friday, and more than 43 people died in barrages of gunfire and tank shells as the battle raged.
"Ethiopian troops attacked several neighbourhoods seeking their dead soldiers. Some of the dead bodies of Ethiopians were dragged through the streets of Mogadishu and this was wrong," deputy Somali police spokesman Abdullahi Ibrahim Omar said.
Rights groups have criticised the Ethiopians for failing to distinguish between civilian and insurgent targets, but residents say it is difficult to tell who is who in a city where most men have firearms.
Human Rights Watch's Africa director, Peter Takirambudde, in a statement said the international community needs to step in stop the bloodshed in Mogadishu.
"The international community should condemn these attacks and hold combatants accountable for violations of humanitarian law, including mutilating captured combatants and executing detainees," he said.
Mogadishu Mayor Mohamed Dheere, who for years was an influential warlord with Ethiopian backing, told local media on Saturday that the insurgents were to blame for the reprisals.
"The Ethiopians are responding to attacks from the al Shabaab," he said, referring to the militant wing of one of the ejected Islamist groups.
Though the African Union has sent a contingent of 1,600 peacekeepers from Uganda, there has been little peace to keep in the anarchic seaside capital -- and taming it is seen as key to the interim government's survival.
The government of President Abdullahi Yusuf is the 14th attempt to
impose central rule on the Horn of Africa nation since it became
synonymous with anarchy, following the removal of dictator Mohamed Siad
Barre in 1991. (Editing by Matthew Jones)
SOURCE: Reuters, November 10, 2007