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MOGADISHU — Insurgents battled troops allied to Somalia's government in some of the worst fighting in this lawless country in weeks, killing at least 20 people, witnesses said Wednesday.
The fighting pitted insurgents against allied Somali and Ethiopian soldiers just south of the capital, Mogadishu, and in the central Somali town of Mataban late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
The death toll could not be independently confirmed. Several witnesses said most people were unable to reach hospitals because travel is restricted at night in Somalia.
At least nine people were killed outside Mogadishu, the victims' relatives told The Associated Press. In Mataban, 10 Ethiopian soldiers and several civilians were reported killed.
Said Safiya Ahmed, who lives on the outskirts of Mogadishu, said she was trying to escape a rain of gunfire and shelling when a mortar shell landed nearby.
"A mortar hit us as we were running," she said. "Four of my neighbors died on the spot."
Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and turned on each other. Thousands of civilians have been killed in Somalia since 2007, caught in vicious disputes over ancient clan loyalties, religion and government.
Somalia's transitional administration was formed in 2004 with the help of the United Nations, but it has failed to assert real control. After Islamic militants seized control of Mogadishu and most of southern Somalia, the government called in troops from Ethiopia in December 2006 to oust them.
The insurgency started soon afterward and remains a potent and disruptive force. Rebels set land mines and attack police posts and the Ethiopian troops respond with deadly force, witnesses say.
The humanitarian crisis is aggravated by high global food prices and drought.
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AP Writer Mohamed Sheikh Nor contributed to this report.
