Militia battle

SOMALIA’S Islamic militia battled a pocket of resistance in the capital yesterday, pounding Mogadishu with machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades a day after 20 people were killed in bloody fighting.

Seven people were killed and the death toll was expected to rise, hospitals said.

Residents were hunkered down in their homes or shops as mortar shells slammed the city.

The bloodshed was reminiscent of the weeks of fierce fighting before the Islamic militia took control and asserted a strict Islamic rule.