Mogadishu Militia Fighting Kills 135

At least 135 have been killed in a fight between rival militias to control a district of the troubled Somalian capital, Mogadishu.

The fighting in the northern CC district of the city began last Sunday as mainly secular warlords clashed with the Islamic Court Union (ICU).

Thousands of residents have since cleared out of the neighbourhood, but the majority of those killed are believed to have been bystanders killed in the crossfire between the two groups.

The ICU, whose base is in the south of the city, has been fighting for control of a strategically important road in the north of the capital.

Government control in Somalia broke down in 1991 and there has been little outside involvement in the country since 1995, when a UN peacekeeping force withdrew following fierce fighting with local guerrillas.

The country's provisional government has minimal resources and no control over Mogadishu. It is based in Baidoa, 150 miles west of the capital, and is struggling to establish authority over the rest of the country, including areas which have seceded and consider themselves independent states.

The ICU has emerged as a growing force in Mogadishu politics in recent years, and there have been sporadic clashes with the warlords' Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counterterrorism (ARPC) group since the start of the year.

Opponents claim that the ICU has links to al-Qaida and is sheltering foreign-born Islamist fighters, and several of its leaders are former members of al-Ittihad al-Islami, which is listed as a terrorist group by the US government. The ICU for its part accuses the ARPC of being covertly supported by the Ethiopian government.

The Islamist group has attracted popular support in lawless Mogadishu for its brutal application of sharia law.

It is also felt not to favour particular clans, an unusual quality in a country torn by ethnic hostilities. The warlords who make up the leadership of the ARPC are themselves mostly clan leaders.

Two weeks ago, the ICU staged its first public execution in more than a decade, when a 16-year-old boy stabbed to death a man convicted of murdering his father.

The city is awash with small arms and has long been considered a no-go zone to outsiders. BBC journalist Kate Peyton was shot dead outside her hotel last year within hours of arriving in the country.

Residents described the fighting in the CC neighbourhood as the worst in a decade in the strife-torn capital. Mohamud Jama said that his three children had been killed when three mortar rounds his his house.

"This is the first time we have witnessed people fighting in Somalia and targeting civilians in such a savage way," he told Associated Press.

Locals fear that the fighting will continue as other clan-based groups take sides in the ongoing battle.