MOGADISHU, March 23: Suspected insurgents shot down a cargo plane over Mogadishu on Friday during a third straight day of clashes with Ethiopian troops propping up the Somali government.

The Belarussian plane, with 11 people on board, was hit by a rocket shortly after takeoff from Mogadishu airport and crashed in the capital's northern Karan neighbourhood, Somali government spokesman Hussein Mohamed Muhamoud said.

“Three rockets were fired at the plane and one of them hit the plane. This is an act that will not be accepted by the Somali people and government,” he said.

Local residents said the plane came down near a former flour mill. There were no immediate details of any casualties on the aircraft or on the ground.

“The government forces have surrounded the area” Muhamoud said.

Airport officials said the plane had brought engineers and equipment to Mogadishu to repair another, an Ilyushin-76 chartered by the African Union, which was hit by a rocket and seriously damaged when landing two weeks ago.

Islamist fighters opposed to the Ethiopian-backed Somali government and to African Union peacekeepers had claimed responsibility.

Friday's rocket attack came as fighting erupted for a third straight day in Mogadishu, breaking a ceasefire agreement between Somalia's powerful Hawiye clan and the Ethiopian army made only hours earlier.

At least 24 people have been killed and hundreds more wounded this week in the heaviest fighting since the government and its Ethiopian allies drove out rival Islamists from the capital three months ago. Thousands have fled spiralling violence since the start of year and dozens of mainly civilians have died.

Residents on Friday reported exchanges of fire at the defence ministry headquarters where Ethiopian troops are based.

“There is no face-to-face fighting, but Ethiopians in the camp are receiving shots from long-range machine guns and they are returning fire in their direction,” southern Mogadishu resident Ahmed Yolah said.—afp