14 killed in Mogadishu gunbattle

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Witnesses in Somalia says at least 10 civilians and four militants have been killed in a gunbattle between Islamists and government forces in the capital.

Resident Sa'id Ahmed said the fighting started late Tuesday when government forces moved into an insurgent-held neighborhood of Mogadishu. He said the soldiers killed four al-Shabab fighters before militant reinforcements arrived.

Ali Muse of Mogadishu's ambulance service says his facility collected the bodies of 10 civilians. He said 39 wounded people were taken hospitals.

For the last three years, thousands of civilians have died in violence-wracked Mogadishu in a conflict that pits Islamists insurgents against a weak, UN-backed government.

- AP