Witnesses say Islamist insurgents fired grenades at Ethiopian  Woyanne troop convoys, and the soldiers turned on civilians and killed at least 17 in two separate attacks in rural Somalia.

The witnesses say an unknown number of Ethiopian Woyannein soldiers died in Wednesday’s clashes as well as six insurgents. But a spokesman for the Islamist fighters says only two insurgents died.

Human rights groups have accused Ethiopian Woyanne troops of increasingly targeting civilians in frustration over their failure to halt an insurgency in Somalia that has adopted Iraqi-style tactics such as suicide attacks and roadside bombs