MOGADISHU, Dec 8: Fierce fighting erupted on Friday between forces loyal to Somalia's Ethiopian-backed government and powerful Islamists south of the government's seat of Baidoa, the two sides said.

Senior government and Islamist officials said the clashes began at midday around Dinsoor, 110 kilometres south of Baidoa, with each putting the blame on the other party.

“The Islamists have attacked us and we are defending ourselves,” Deputy Defence Minister Salat Ali Jelle said from Baidoa, the only major town the government holds.

In Mogadishu, about 250 kilometres southeast of Baidoa, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, head of the executive wing of the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia, said “heavy fighting” was under way in the Dinsoor area.

He told a large crowd after Friday prayers that the battle began when a joint Somali government-Ethiopian force attacked Islamist fighters near Dinsoor, where the two sides have been girding for battle for the past 10 days.—AFP