By Abdi Sheikh
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Islamist insurgents firing grenades attacked Ugandan peacekeepers in Mogadishu, killing at least 10 people and injuring a dozen others in the crossfire, residents and officials said on Tuesday.
The overnight fighting came a day after a hardline Islamist leader linked to al Qaeda, Sheikh Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki, told Reuters that rebels would continue to attack foreign troops including the African Union peacekeeping force.
"An unknown group attacked us, but we chased and killed two of them," AU force spokesman Barigye Bahouku told Reuters.
"First they fired four rocket-propelled grenades at us and then machine guns, but there were no casualties from our side. We have not killed any civilians but aimed at those who attack us using small arms."
A contingent of 1,600 Ugandan peacekeepers and 600 Burundian troops, known as AMISOM, has been unable to stem mounting violence in Somalia.
Militants have routinely attacked Somali and Ethiopian troops since the Islamic Courts movement was ousted from Mogadishu in a short war in late 2006 and early 2007.
Last week, insurgents wounded five Ugandan soldiers. Kampala sent troops to the Somali capital in March 2007 to help bolster the struggling Somali government.
Residents said two mortars killed eight people and wounded nine others in the attack. A stray rocket-propelled grenade killed a further two people, witnesses said.
"Mortar shells from Ugandans killed all these people as Islamists were fighting from the gate of our building," witness Fatuma Olow told Reuters.
The Shabab militia -- which the United States has labelled a terrorist organisation -- claimed responsibility for the attack.
"Our mujahideen forces carried out an attack on the so-called AMISOM and our operation was successful," Shabab spokesman Mukhtar Ali Robow told Reuters. "We had neither injuries nor deaths and we shall continue attacking them till Somalia is liberated."
On Tuesday night, clashes between insurgents and the police killed four people in western Mogadishu, residents said.
Thousands have been killed and nearly 1 million displaced in fighting since early 2007.
