By Abdi Mohamed
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - At least eight people died in newviolence in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Friday, ending alull that accompanied tentative U.N. peace talks in Djibouti.
Residents said security forces opened fire at a group ofyouths who were looting iron sheets from an abandoned policebase in Madina district, in the city's southwest.
"Two boys under the age of 15 were killed and three otherswere wounded," said witness Abdi Buno. "The stray bullets alsokilled a woman and two other young boys in the neighbourhood."
Police could not immediately be reached for comment.
In the northern Mogadishu district of Huriwa, one man diedwhen suspected Islamist insurgents attacked Ethiopian troopspreparing to distribute food supplies, residents said.
The bodies of two men, bound hand and foot, were discoveredearlier on Friday lying in a pool of blood in the capital'ssprawling Bakara Market, they said.
Their identities could not immediately be established.
Mogadishu had been relatively quiet while members of theinterim government and opposition figures attended talks hostedby the United Nations in neighbouring Djibouti.
But there was little progress at the discussions, andopposition officials demanded Ethiopian troops backing thegovernment leave before face-to-face talks could go ahead.
On Wednesday, the International Committee of the Red Crosswarned it saw no immediate improvement in Somalia'shumanitarian crisis, which aid workers say may be the worst inAfrica.
At least a million people have been displaced by fightingbetween the interim government and Islamist insurgents sinceearly last year, and their plight has been worsened by recordfood prices, hyper-inflation and drought.
(Additional reporting by Abdi Skeikh; Writing by AweysYusuf; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Jon Boyle)
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