(AFP) — Mogadishu – At least seven civilians were killed when Somali insurgents attacked a joint convoy of Ethiopian Woyanne and Somali troops, sparking deadly clashes, witnesses said on Monday.

Fifteen others were wounded in the clashes that erupted on Sunday in northern Mogadishu’s Towfiq district and spread to others residential zones in the volatile coastal capital, they said.

“Five civilians, including four children, were killed in Gupta neighbourhood when they were hit by an artillery shell. Four of them died in the spot while the fifth one passed away later,” said Abdifatah Mohamed Nur, a resident.

Another resident Muktar Bile said stray bullets killed two other civilians in Sinay area, bringing the death toll to seven.

“Two young men died after they were hit by stray bullets in our neighbourhood. I know one of them, he was a footballer,” added Colonel Hassan Artan Warsame, a police official.

Another police official confirmed the clashes but declined to give details on the civilian casualty.

“The terrorists attacked our forces, but we repelled them. They fired heavy rockets and we responded, but I can’t tell the casualties,” added the official, who requested to remain unnamed.

Insurgents spokesman Sheikh Abdirahin Ise Ado said they killed nine Somali forces and Ethiopian allies in the fighting. “We killed nine of them in Towfiq junction.”

They have launched attacks almost daily since then, in which many government fighters – and civilians – have been killed.

The latest clash came days after a July 9 deadline for the implementation of a truce, which in June was initialled by the federal government and top leaders from the main Islamist-dominated opposition movement in Djibouti.