Insurgents attacked the airport in Mogadishu yesterday and fought a heavy battle with government and Ethiopian troops as Ugandan peacekeepers arrived in Somalia's lawless capital.

The concerted assaults, some of the heaviest in weeks, appeared timed to coincide with the arrival of hundreds of Ugandans in the vanguard of an African Union peacekeeping mission.

More than a dozen mortar strikes hit near the airport, where some 350 Ugandans were camped after landing earlier yesterday.

Shortly afterwards, scores of masked fighters fired rocket-propelled grenades and machineguns at government troops and their Ethiopian allies at a base in Mogadishu's industrial area.

At least two civilians were killed in the attack, said a local reporter trapped by the gunfire at a nearby hospital.

The heavy fighting and mortar attacks underlined the tough task facing African Union troops in helping restore peace in a country mired in anarchy since central rule crumbled in 1991.

A witness who saw mortar bombs hit the airport said there was no immediate word on any casualties.

"The military side of the airport has been hit. We cannot cross from this side to the other side. We don't know if anyone has been wounded there," the witness said.

Most of the Ugandans were flown in by the Algerian air force in C-130 cargo planes.

The last foreign peacekeeping mission, a well-funded US and UN operation, ended in failure and withdrawal in 1995 after relentless street battles with local militiamen.

Last week, 35 Ugandan officers landed in Baidoa, the interim government's temporary capital in south-central Somalia. More are expected to arrive in the coming days to bring the Ugandan contingent to about 1,600.

The proposed 8,000-strong AU force is designed to help Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf's government extend its shaky authority over the Horn of Africa country.

Yusuf, backed by Ethiopian armor and air power in a lightning war over Christmas and New Year, routed rival Islamists who held most of southern Somalia for six months.

They fled into hiding vowing to wage holy war against foreign troops and guerrilla attacks have gradually built up.

The insurgents are suspected of being a mix of defeated Islamists and clan militiamen resisting central rule that would end their private fiefdoms.

Two unmarked Russian-made Antonov cargo aircraft flew in white military vehicles for the Ugandans with AU markings, including armoured personnel carriers. The AU force is needed to replace Ethiopian troops eager to pullout after defeating the Islamists.

Source: China Daily/agencies