Mogadishu: Security forces killed at least five people in the Somali capital Mogadishu as they cracked down on riots sparked by rising food prices and record inflation, witnesses said.

At least 20,000 people were out on the streets to demonstrate as anger grew at printers of fake money and unscrupulous traders whose preference for US dollars over the Somali shilling is helping to push inflation to record levels.

The mobs burnt tyres, stoned motorists and smashed shop windows before police moved in to prevent the unrest from spiralling out of control.

Clashes ensued as police became embroiled in running battles with looting protestors and gunfire and grenade explosions echoing out across the war-torn Somali capital.

Two protestors were killed in Waberi, two in Dharkiley and one in K4,all southern areas of Mogadishu where many others lay injured, witnesses said yesterday.

"We do not need cruel traders", "We do not need people who are in love with dollar yet we have the shillings," "We want our right to live," they chanted in the streets, where plumes of smoke rose.

"We are going to demonstrate until they (traders) accept the Somali shilling... We cannot afford dollars," one protestor Hassan Said told AFP.

"And if they refuse to lower food prices, we will start looting their shops so that we can survive."

Although there are no official inflation figures, UN monitors say cereal prices have increased by between 110 and 375 per cent in the past year as central Somalia has endured its worst drought in recent memory.

Source : PTI