Somalia fighting - 40 dead

Reuters

SOMALIA MILITIA: Fighting has killed at least 40 people in Somalia.

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Fighting between government soldiers and Islamic insurgents has killed at least 40 people in central Somalia, witnesses say.

The fighting started on Thursday in Bula Burte, about 200 kilometres north of the capital, Mogadishu, when government soldiers moved into the town controlled by the insurgent group al-Shabab.

Local resident Osman Ganey said he saw 15 bodies and the fighting was continuing.

In another area of town, resident Farah Abdi Barre said he counted 25 corpses.

Al-Shabab, which has foreign fighters in its ranks, operates openly in the capital and seeks to overthrow the government and impose a strict form of Islam in Somalia.

Somalia has been ravaged by violence and anarchy since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, and then turned on each other.

- AP