20091231

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A fall in street battles in the capital Mogadishu led to significantly fewer civilians being killed in Somalia this year, a human rights group said on Wednesday.

The Mogadishu-based Elman Peace and Human Rights Organisation said 1,739 civilians were killed in fighting in Somalia this year, down from 7,574 in 2008 and 8,636 in 2007.

"The death toll was lower this year because there was no serious face-to-face fighting in Mogadishu, but beheadings and the exchange of shells in a hit-and-run war," said Ali Yasin Gedi, Elman's vice chairman.

Islamists launched an insurgency at the start of 2007 to drive out Ethiopian troops propping up the Western-backed government in the Horn of Africa nation. There were heavy clashes in Mogadishu and other parts of southern and central Somalia until the Ethiopians left at the start of this year.

A former Islamist rebel, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, was elected president in January. While there were hopes he would be able to reconcile with the insurgents he has made little headway and the government controls only a few blocks of Mogadishu.

Western security agencies say the country has become a safe haven for militants, including foreign jihadists, who are using it to plot attacks across the impoverished region and beyond.

FIGHTING FEARS

But there have been fewer full-blown clashes between government troops and insurgents in the capital during 2009.