Witnesses in Somalia's capital say at least five people were killed in clashes Sunday.

They say four people were killed when armed men attacked a group of government soldiers at Dabka intersection in Mogadishu. Three of those killed were soldiers, while one civilian, reportedly a doctor, was killed in the crossfire.

Elsewhere in Mogadishu, local residents say Somali forces opened fire at civilians, killing a two-year-old child and wounding the mother.

The latest violence took place as Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein was meeting with opposition clan elders to discuss his plans for reconciliation.

The Somali government and its Ethiopian allies have been battling an Islamist insurgency for more than a year.

The fighting has killed thousands of people in Mogadishu alone and forced at least a half-million others to flee the city.

The insurgency began after a joint Somali-Ethiopian offensive drove a militant Islamist movement from power in southern Somalia in late 2006.