MOGADISHU, Dec 10 (Reuters) - The death toll from fighting in Somalia has reached 16,210 since the start of last year, a local human rights group said on Wednesday.

The Mogadishu-based Elman Peace and Human Rights Organisation has been tracking the casualties since Islamist insurgents launched a rebellion against the U.N.-backed interim government and its Ethiopian military allies early in 2007.

Elman said 7,574 civilians had been killed so far in 2008, adding to 8,636 killed the year before. In a report, it said nearly 29,000 people had been wounded over that two-year period. (Editing by Charles Dick)

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