March 21 (Reuters) - Somali insurgents dragged soldiers' bodies through the streets of Mogadishu before burning them on Wednesday when at least eight people were killed and scores injured in heavy fighting, witnesses said.

Here is a chronology of recent events in Somalia:

Oct. 2004 - In 14th attempt since 1991 to restore central government, lawmakers elect Ethiopian-backed warlord Abdullahi Yusuf as president. In December, Prime Minister Mohamed Ali Gedi swears in 27 ministers in Kenya.

Feb. 2006 - Lawmakers arrive in the southern city of Baidoa for the first meeting of the country's parliament on home soil.

June 2006 - The Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) seizes the capital Mogadishu from U.S.-backed warlords and takes control of parts of southern Somalia.

Sept. 25 - Yusuf escapes a bomb attack that kills five outside parliament in Baidoa.

-- Islamist fighters take over the southern port of Kismayu, Somalia's third largest city.

Oct. 9 - Islamists declare holy war against Ethiopia, which they accuse of invading Somalia to help the government.

Nov. 30 - Ethiopia's parliament votes to let its government take necessary steps to rebuff any invasion by the Islamists.

Dec. 12 - Islamists tell Ethiopia to leave Somalia within seven days or face war. Fighting starts following the end of the deadline.

Dec. 24 - Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi says he is waging war against the Islamists to protect his country's sovereignty, in Ethiopia's first public admission of military involvement in Somalia.

Dec. 28 - Islamists flee Mogadishu ahead of a joint Ethiopian and Somali government force which captures the city.

Dec. 31 - Somali Prime Minister Gedi enters Mogadishu.

Jan. 1, 2007 - Islamists abandon defences at Kismayu.

Jan. 8 - Yusuf arrives in Mogadishu for the first time since he became president in 2004.

-- U.S. aircraft strike the southern village of Hayo, after it was believed at least one al Qaeda suspect was sheltering there. Ethiopian and Somali troops had chased the Islamists' last remnants to the area.

Jan. 13 - Parliament declares a three-month state of emergency amid fears of a return to clan violence.

Jan. 23 - Ethiopian forces begin leaving Mogadishu.

Feb. 20 - U.N. Security Council authorizes an African Union (AU) peacekeeping mission for Somalia for six months.

March 1 - A Ugandan vanguard of an AU peace force to help the interim government flies into Baidoa. Five days later 350 Ugandan troops land at Mogadishu amid heavy fighting.

March 7 - At least nine Somalis are killed when a rocket fired at AU troops hits a restaurant, inflicting the first casualties on the peacekeepers.

March 21 - Insurgents drag soldiers' bodies through Mogadishu, during heavy fighting between them and Ethiopian and government forces. At least 8 people are killed including 5 soldiers and 65 are wounded.

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