MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - Ten civilians have been killed in the past 24 hours in the Somali capital, a human rights group said Thursday, a grim accounting in a city that has in recent months seen near-daily roadside bombs, land mines, grenade attacks and gunbattles.
Also Thursday, African Union military experts arrived in Mogadishu for a regular review of the AU peacekeeping mission's work.
Sudan Ali Ahmed, chairman of Elman Human Rights, an independent Somali group, told The Associated Press that the civilians were killed in different parts of Mogadishu. Elman compiles its figures from hospital reports, witness accounts and its human rights workers.
Ahmed said that Mogadishu-based rights groups would stage a peaceful march on Sunday to protest increasing casualties among civilians caught in the crossfire as Somali soldiers and their Ethiopian allies battle Islamic insurgents.
"We call on the two warring sides -- the government and insurgents -- to stop violating human rights in the country," Ahmed said. "They should opt for dialogue rather than violence."
In Somalia's southern port town of Kismayo, gunmen shot a prominent cleric, Sheik Jeylani Sheik Ali Ma'alin Ahmed, two times in the head outside his house late Wednesday after he led prayers in a nearby mosque, his son said.
"I saw two men cocking their pistols and hurriedly approaching us, then I said to my father 'Father, look these men they are cocking their pistols.' He shrugged off and said 'Leave them alone only Allah has the power to take people's lives,'" Mohamed, the 16-year old son, told reporters. He said he ran away when he saw the gunmen grab his father's collar.
A police officer, Col. Ibrahim Khalif, said they are investigating the killing although it is "hard to know the perpetrators of nighttime assassinations."
The AU peacekeepers have a limited mandate and have had little success calming the chaos. In March, Uganda deployed about 1,800 troops in Somalia as part of African Union efforts to bring stability to Somalia, but no other African country has sent troops despite endorsing an African Union proposal to have an 8,000-strong mission in the Horn of Africa nation. The deployments have been delayed because of the lack of funding and logistical help.
Thursday's AU trip offered countries wanting to deploy troops a chance to see for themselves the security situation in Mogadishu, said Ugandan Maj. Gen. Benon Biraro.
Officials from 17 countries, "came to look at the situation and report back to their countries for possible deployment of troops from Africa," said Biraro, the strategic planning and management chief of the AU's peace operations division.
The African Union's force is mandated to guard key government facilities such as the international airport, port and the president's residence. It is not charged with enforcing peace in Mogadishu, but is expected to help train the Somali army and police force when a disarmament program is completed.
So far, government disarmament efforts have failed and a U.N. panel that monitors a 1992 arms embargo says that different groups continue to smuggle in arms.
Somalia has been ravaged by violence and anarchy since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, then turned on each other. The current government was formed in 2004, but has struggled to assert any real control.
A radical Islamic group ruled the capital and much of southern Somalia for six months last year, but was kicked out by Ethiopian troops who support the government. Since then, insurgents and government-allied troops have battled nearly every day, and thousands of civilians have been killed this year alone in Mogadishu.
