(Adds quotes, details) MOGADISHU, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Mortar bombs were fired at Somali government troops and Ethiopian soldiers in Mogadishu on Friday, Deputy Defence Minister Salad Ali Jelle said. "Extremists fired mortars at our troops and Ethiopian forces, no one was wounded. Our troops retaliated," Jelle told Reuters. "Whenever we are attacked our troops normally retaliate targeting ... the extremists. We cannot know any casualties from this attack until tomorrow." The attack follows a series of guerrilla-style assaults on government and Ethiopian troops since they routed Islamists in a war over Christmas and the New Year, and seized Mogadishu and the rest of south Somalia. A resident said he saw unidentified assailants fire two rockets at Ethiopian soldiers at a former hospital in western Mogadishu. He then heard artillery being fired. "Ethiopian soldiers staying in Digfer hospital have been hit with two rockets," the resident, who declined to be named, said. "They replied ... by firing heavy artillery. The heavy explosions were followed by sporadic shooting." Another resident a kilometre away said he heard artillery being fired. "The heavy artillery fired by the Ethiopians landed in Tarbuunka and at a former university building. Two people have been wounded in Tarbuunka," the resident said. Many suspect hardcore Islamist remnants are behind near-daily attacks in the capital Mogadishu, which are putting pressure on the government as it struggles to restore stability in a country in anarchy since the 1991 ouster of a dictator.
