Amnesty International has accused Ethiopian troops of committing war atrocities during their mission to support the U.N.-backed government of Somalia.

A report released Tuesday by the human rights group accuses Ethiopian soldiers of killing civilians, slitting people's throats and gang raping women.

Troops with the transitional Somali government and their Ethiopian allies have been battling Islamist-led insurgents since 2006. The country has also been torn apart by violence between rival clans.

The report says all parties in the Somali conflict have carried out rights abuses, but it singled out Ethiopian troops as some of the worst violators.

Amnesty International says the people of Somalia face a dire human rights and humanitarian crisis growing worse by the day.

The group called on the international community to step forward and help put an end to the bloodshed.

Amnesty International said about 6,000 civilians have been killed in attacks since last year and one million have been internally displaced.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.