Somali Guerrillas Claim Some Advances

Somali guerrillas said today that they had killed 123 Government soldiers and wounded 231 in the last week in northwestern and central Somalia.

The rebels' radio station, broadcasting from Ethiopia and monitored in Nairobi, said the guerrillas had captured four villages in the northwest since the fighting began March 8 and suffered ''only light casualties.''

The guerrillas' said the fighting began after an army patrol killed eight villagers, touching off an uprising. The claims of the rebels, who are fighting to overthrow President Mohamed Siad Barre, could not be verified independently.

Source: New York Times