Nairobi/Mogadishu - At least six civilians have died after shells targeting African Union peacekeeping bases in Mogadishu went astray, reports said Monday.

Islamist insurgents launched attacks on two bases in the early hours of the morning, the BBC reported.

No AU troops were reported injured in the attack, but shells landed in residential areas nearby, killing a family and injuring others.

Almost daily battles have blighted the Horn of Africa nation since Ethiopian troops invaded in 2006 to kick out the Islamist regime and put the transitional federal government back in power.

Islamist insurgents have since fought back, taking over the key port town of Kismayo and hammering Ethiopian, government and AU peacekeeping troops.

Two AU peacekeepers from Uganda died last weekend, bringing the total number of AU troops killed to eight.

However, civilians have borne the brunt of the fighting. The Mogadishu-based Elman Peace and Human Rights Organization this week said that a total of 9,474 civilians have died in the insurgency since early 2007.

The government and moderate opposition figures have signed up to a peace deal, but it has had no effect on the day-to-day violence as al-Shabaab has rejected the deal.

Ethiopian troops must leave before any peace can be negotiated, al-Shabaab says.

Nonetheless, government and opposition officials met over the weekend in neighbouring Djibouti to discuss the peace deal and agreed to meet again within 15 days to work out technical details of the planned ceasefire.

The Horn of Africa nation has been plagued by chaos and clan-based civil war since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991. (dpa)