The United Nations top envoy for Somalia on Wednesday appealed for calm in Mogadishu, urging for an end to hostilities as the city entered its fourth day of violence between heavily armed militia forces.

In a statement issued in Nairobi, the UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Somalia, Francois Lonseny Fall called on leaders to work together and exercise restrain as fighting subsided following a cease-fire declared by an Islamic militia in Somali's capital as death toll rises to 75 deaths.

But sporadic gunfire continues between an alliance of warlords and the Islamic militia who have battled with heavy artillery in northern districts.

"I am deeply disturbed by the daily reports of civilian deaths and injuries and of families fleeing for their lives," said Fall.

"Whatever the allegiances, the intermittent conflict between heavily armed camps has resulted in indiscriminate loss of life and has created fear and chaos for those civilians trapped in the crossfire. By taking their grievances to the streets, these armed groups have effectively unleashed a war on their own people," he lamented.

The fighting reportedly started late on Sunday, when an alliance of warlords attacked the vehicle of a group allied to the Islamic courts.

The battles have been fierce, with hundreds of people wounded.

"I appeal to leaders on both sides to step back from the brink and reconsider the damage they are inflicting on the population. The indiscriminate use of heavy machine guns, mortars, rocket- propelled grenades and artillery in and between urban areas is unacceptable," Fall said.

The UN envoy said that elsewhere in the country peaceful initiatives have given hope that Somalia can extricate itself from more than a decade of civil war.

"For the first time in 15 years, we have a parliament in session in Baidoa, just 240 kilometers from the current center of violence," he said.

"There is a tremendous hunger for peace throughout the country and it is difficult to overstate the importance of what is underway to secure it," he added.

Fall also noted that Somalia's Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs) have been working with IGAD, the African Union and the international community to develop a National Security and Stabilization Plan.

"The continuing violence in Mogadishu is a reminder of the urgent need to finalize this plan. It is also a reminder of the challenges that lie ahead," the UN envoy said.

"But security is first and foremost a Somali process that demands buy-in from all the key Somali parties. The international community cannot impose peace on them," he added.

Militia leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed reportedly said the truce which was brokered late Tuesday was a response to appeals from those affected by the violence.

But his opponents said the truce was called because of a lack of ammunition.

The warlords' alliance spokesman Hussein Gutale Rageh said they would only accept the cease-fire if their rivals withdrew from territory they have occupied during the fighting.

In March, over 100 people died in Mogadishu's worst battles in years, between militias linked to the Islamic courts and those tied to the Mogadishu Anti-Terrorism Coalition, comprising most of the capital's powerful warlords.

Source: Xinhua