Thursday, July 01, 2010
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MOGADISHU, Somalia — An emergency official in the Somali capital says six civilians were killed after being caught in a battle between government forces and Islamist insurgents.
The head of Mogadishu's ambulance service, Ali Muse, says at least 21 other civilians were wounded in Thursday's fighting.
Radio Mogadishu, the state-run radio station, reported that President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed visited the front lines. The station's website showed him standing near sandbags while wearing army fatigues.
Somalia's weak, U.N.-backed government is battling an Islamist insurgency that controls much of the country's south and center. Somalia has not had a functioning government in nearly 20 years.
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