Ethiopian commander killed in Somalia

Ethiopian troops are in shock after their leader's death.

Top commander of Ethiopian forces in Somalia has been gunned down by unidentified insurgents in the war-torn country's capital Mogadishu.

The Ethiopian leader was shot in the head by unknown gunmen from a building in the vicinity of the Bakara market in central Mogadishu, a government official told Press TV on Sunday.

The riled Ethiopian troops leveled the building to the ground. Whether any of the insurgents have been killed remains unknown.

Ethiopian troops are said to be in a state of shock and confusion over their leader's death.

The report added that more than 50 Ethiopian soldiers have also been killed in clashes with heavily armed rebels near the Somali Presidential Palace on the same day.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Hassan Haad, the chairman of the Hawiye clan -- the largest and most powerful clan in Somalia -- condemned Sunday's Bakara market attack which left 40 civilians dead and 123 others critically wounded, blaming the Ethiopian troops and Somali government forces for the tragic event.

"Hostility actions from the Ethiopian and the so-called Somali government soldiers are not acceptable," Haad said.

"The Ethiopians have killed uncountable number of civilians and they are the daily problem of Somalis. They are committing genocide and the Hwiye clan cannot accept that," he stressed.

FF/BGH