Witnesses in Somalia's capital say at least five people have been killed and at least nine others injured by a bomb explosion near a crowded market.
Witnesses and health care workers say a group of women were cleaning the street near Mogadishu's Bakara market when the bomb exploded Tuesday. They say police arrived at the scene a short time later and sealed off the area.
The explosion follows another night of unrest in the capital in which insurgents armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades battled security forces. Witnesses say at least two people died when a grenade hit a residence near the sight of the gunbattle.
The clashes occurred in a northern area of the capital known to be an Islamist stronghold.
Violence in the Somali capital shows no signs of stopping despite a nighttime curfew the government imposed on Friday.
Somali government officials have blamed the attacks on remnants of the Islamist movement that ruled Mogadishu for several months last year before being pushed out by the government and allied Ethiopian troops.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
