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| Heavy fighting erupts in Somalia | Heavy fighting erupts in Somalia |
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| Heavy fighting has broken out in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, between government forces backed by Ethiopian troops and armed insurgents. | Heavy fighting has broken out in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, between government forces backed by Ethiopian troops and armed insurgents. |
| A BBC correspondent says seven people were killed in the battle, the heaviest since the Islamists fell last year. | A BBC correspondent says seven people were killed in the battle, the heaviest since the Islamists fell last year. |
| He says there has been a dramatic escalation in attacks against government targets in recent weeks. | He says there has been a dramatic escalation in attacks against government targets in recent weeks. |
| Some 1,200 African Union troops have been deployed to Mogadishu this month to try and bring stability to the city. | Some 1,200 African Union troops have been deployed to Mogadishu this month to try and bring stability to the city. |
| Dozens have been killed during insurgent attacks in Mogadishu in the past two and a half months, which the government blames on remnants of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC). | |
| Ethiopian troops, who have been in the city since December supporting Somali forces loyal to the transitional government, have been gradually handing over responsibilities to the AU force. | |
| Signal | |
| The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu says armed masked men confronted the government and Ethiopian forces on patrol. | |
| Unconfirmed reports say an Ethiopian soldier is among the dead. | Unconfirmed reports say an Ethiopian soldier is among the dead. |
| Somalia enjoyed a six-month lull in the insecurity that had dogged the country for the past 16 years when the UIC took power last year. | |
| But insecurity has returned to the city and the UN estimates some 40,000 people have fled from Mogadishu since February. | |
| Our correspondent says the escalation in attacks comes at a time when the government says it plans to hold a national reconciliation conference in Mogadishu in April. | |
| Insurgents may want to signal that the city is not safe to hold the meeting, he says. |