Ethiopian, Somali and insurgent forces are deliberately targeting the civilian population in Mogadishu, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.

The report says that a loose coalition of Somali armed groups, including the Islamic Courts’ Al-Shabaab militia, have been firing indiscriminately in civilian areas. It also documents the targeted killings of civilian officials of the Somalian transitional Federal Government (TFG) and summary executions of captured combatants.

Ethiopian forces supporting the TFG have retaliated by bombarding highly populated areas of Mogadishu with rockets and mortars. Hospitals were also targeted and there were instances of execution-style shootings of civilians.

The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) blamed the increase in human rights abuses on a blatent disregard for the arms embargo on Somalia. Researchers said the Ethiopian military have been supplying weapons to the TFG and its Ethiopian allies. The principal routes of weapons transfer were by road from Dollow, on the Ethiopian/Somalian border, to Baidoa in Somalia. The ISS also said that the TFG Prime Minister had granted Mudan Airlines permission to transport weapons and munitions from Ethiopia to Baidoa. The influx of weaponry "clearly explains the escalations of casualities" said the ISS.