Some 565 people were wounded during four days of heavy fighting that saw Ethiopian troops with tanks and attack helicopters launch an offensive to crush insurgents linked to an Islamic group driven from power in December.

The casualty figures were the first to be released after the worst fighting seen in Mogadishu for more than 15 years and the death toll could be higher, Sudan Ali Ahmed, chairman of the decade-old Elman Human Rights Organization, said. The figures did not include Ethiopian soldiers who may have been killed.

April 2 was marked by a lull in attacks, and thousands of people fled Mogadishu.

The Japan Times Weekly: April 7, 2007
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