Mogadishu, Somalia ? Somalia’s government has formed an anti-terror unit trained by Ethiopian troops to quell growing unrest in the capital and a senior defense official said it went into operation Monday.

Two Ethiopian military bases in Somalia came under mortar attack late Monday, local residents said.

The troops returned fire, hitting a residential area in southern Mogadishu and killing three people, said clan elder Mohamed Abdi Farah. Six others, including a teenage girl, were wounded in the attack, said Farah and Shamsa Abdi Ahmed, whose daughter was among the injured.

A rocket also was fired at a military vehicle but missed, injuring one person, said witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

The paramilitary force began operations Monday after being trained by the Ethiopian troops, Deputy Defense Minister Salad Ali Jelle said.

“It is a government plan to fight terrorists and bring them to justice,” Jelle told The Associated Press.

He refused to provide more details about the unit. But another government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said it numbered around 700 soldiers.

Insecurity in Somalia has been growing since the transitional government drove out the rival Islamic movement with Ethiopian military help late last year. Since the government’s return to Mogadishu, insurgents have staged near-daily attacks.

On Sunday, a car exploded in the capital, killing all four occupants. No one has claimed responsibility but witnesses said the car was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired from another vehicle.

Jelle said the occupants of the car were suicide bombers.