Mogadishu street battle

Islamist militiamen ambushed fighters loyal to defeated Somali warlords in Mogadishu yesterday in a heavy battle that killed at least 12 people and wounded scores, witnesses said.

It was the most serious flareup since the Islamists took over the Somali capital from US-backed warlords on June 5.

Mogadishu's war-weary residents ran for cover as rival militia blazed away with machineguns and missiles near the volatile Kilometre Four district, a pocket of secular resistance to the Islamists.