MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Dozens of members of an Islamist insurgent group handed themselves over to Somalia's interim government in the capital on Sunday, police said.

"Forty-nine fighters from al-Shabab surrendered to the authorities in Mogadishu this morning," said a police officer who asked not to be named. He was referring to the military wing of a sharia courts group ousted from the capital last year.

He gave no other details, and insurgent leaders could not immediately be reached for comment.

Somalia's government and its Ethiopian allies face a persistent Islamist insurgency in Mogadishu. Rights workers say fighting in the capital killed 6,500 people last year.