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| Battle kills Somali police chief | Battle kills Somali police chief |
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| Mogadishu's police chief has been killed as government forces attacked insurgent bases in the Somali capital. | Mogadishu's police chief has been killed as government forces attacked insurgent bases in the Somali capital. |
| Witnesses saw the bodies of at least eight people, mainly civilians, in the latest battle to convulse the city. | |
| "This is the strongest fighting we've seen in recent months," one resident, Asha Mo'alim, told the BBC. "We're ducking in our rooms." | "This is the strongest fighting we've seen in recent months," one resident, Asha Mo'alim, told the BBC. "We're ducking in our rooms." |
| Pro-government forces have been locked in fierce battles with radical Islamist guerrillas in the city since 7 May. | Pro-government forces have been locked in fierce battles with radical Islamist guerrillas in the city since 7 May. |
| In Wednesday's fighting, civilians could be seen running across the streets and sheltering by walls as heavy gunfire shook the Hodan area in south Mogadishu. | In Wednesday's fighting, civilians could be seen running across the streets and sheltering by walls as heavy gunfire shook the Hodan area in south Mogadishu. |
| A mortar landed on my neighbour's house and killed two people and injured four others Abdiwali DahirResident class="" href="/2/hi/africa/8091403.stm">Mogadishu carnage devours families class="" href="/2/hi/africa/8077725.stm">Somali rage at grave desecration | |
| Government police spokesman Colonel Abdulahi Hassan Barise said: "The regional police chief, Colonel Ali Said, was among the dead, God bless him." | |
| Radical Islamist fighters wearing headscarves with ammunition belts draped over their shoulders were seen coming from areas on the outskirts of the capital to join their men in the battle. | Radical Islamist fighters wearing headscarves with ammunition belts draped over their shoulders were seen coming from areas on the outskirts of the capital to join their men in the battle. |
| In one area, the fighting reportedly sucked in peacekeepers from an African Union base, prompting them to fire tank shells at the rebel strongholds. | |
| "A mortar landed on my neighbour's house and killed two people and injured four others," said another resident, Abdiwali Dahir. | "A mortar landed on my neighbour's house and killed two people and injured four others," said another resident, Abdiwali Dahir. |
| More than 120,000 people have been displaced by the recent violence | |
| "I have seen the dead bodies of three civilians recognised by the local residents, an Islamist fighter and a government soldier, lying in the street," another resident, Farah Abdi, told the BBC by telephone, with the sound of heavy gunfire echoing in the background. | "I have seen the dead bodies of three civilians recognised by the local residents, an Islamist fighter and a government soldier, lying in the street," another resident, Farah Abdi, told the BBC by telephone, with the sound of heavy gunfire echoing in the background. |
| The latest bout of intense fighting has killed more than 250 people, civilians and combatants since it erupted last month. | |
| More than 120,000 people have been displaced by the violence, according to the United Nations. | |
| A combined force of radical Islamic militants, including al-Shabab, which is accused of links to al-Qaeda, has been trying to topple the fragile UN-backed government for three years. | |
| A moderate Islamist president took office in Somalia in January but even his introduction of Sharia law to the strongly Muslim country has not appeased the guerrillas. | |
| The country has not had an effective national government since 1991. | |
| Some four million people - a third of the population - need food aid, aid agencies say. |