SOMALIA - Mar 18 - Somali Insurgents Locked In Battle With Troops.

Somali insurgents battle Ethiopian and government troops with mortar and artillery fire, killing two people and wounding at least 16 others who were caught in the crossfire. Mortar attacks were launched against four separate areas in the capital, targeting the seaport and former intelligence headquarters, where insurgent attacks against the transitional government are growing more sophisticated and deadly. At least four people were wounded when one mortar hit a restaurant near the seaport, said Shamsa Ali Mude, one of the diners. "They were shouting and crying", said Ali Madey Abdullah, another witness at the restaurant. "They were in shock". One person was killed in the blast, restaurant employee Qamar Haji Sayed said. Six civilians who were hit by shrapnel were taken to the Madinah hospital in the capital, and more casualties were expected, nurse Ameena Mahammad said. Doctor Muhammad Mo'lin said 10 wounded people and one dead were brought to Keysaney hospital in the north of Mogadishu. All those killed or injured were civilians, medics said. The attack came as 18 members of a high-ranking UN delegation, led by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Tuliameni Kalomoh, arrived in the government stronghold of Baidoa, 250km southwest of Mogadishu. Police chief killed The group held talks with PM Ali Muhammad Gedi about the possibility of sending UN peacekeepers to replace an African Union peacekeeping mission when their mandate ends in six months, the country's FM Esmail Hurre, said. Last year Somalia's transitional government and Ethiopian troops routed a radical Islamic movement, but insurgents thought to be linked to the group continue to stage attacks. Meanwhile, a Somali police chief leading a crackdown on insurgents in the lawless country was killed by his bodyguard, witnesses said. Col. Abdi Muhammad Abdullah, appointed police commander of Somalia's third largest city, Kismayo, died of his wounds after being shot in the leg on Mar 17 night, resident Abdullahi Ahmad Kulmiye said by telephone. The bodyguard, who has not yet been identified, fled with several armed gunmen in a waiting pickup, the resident said.