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Summary
A night of clashes in south Mogadishu killed at least 11 civilians as Islamist insurgents continued whittling away the areas controlled by government forces, sources said on Saturday. Fighting erupted late Friday and continued overnight around Hodan and Holwadag districts where witnesses reported Somali government forces and their allies lost key positions. There were still sporadic firefights and shelling late morning Saturday, residents said. Maka Al-Mukarama is the only direct supply route linking the presidential palace and the airport. We have advanced onto the enemy lines and taken control of their barracks near Maka Al-Mukarama road; I tell you today that this war is aimed to finish the apostate regime and their African invaders, Sheik Ali Mohamoud Rage, spokesman for the Al-Qaeda-inspired Shebab, told reporters. We have diluted their powers and forced them to retreat with the only road they were controlling becoming our front line. It was cut off and the mujahedeen will continue advancing if Allah says, he added.Many people died yesterday in our neighbourhood: six civilians were killed in a mortar blast and three others were caught in the crossfire, Muktar Hasan Nur, a witness, said Saturday. The latest toll brings to more than 80 the number of civilians killed since the fighting erupted Monday.Shebab fighters have stepped up their attacks against Somali government forces and their African Union backers in the past week.The government forces and their African peacekeeper allies -- some 6,000 Ugandan and Burundian troops -- are the last barrier between the hardline group and the embattled government of President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.The government now has only partial control of a few districts of the capital.
