Hundreds flee renewed fighting among Somali warlords

Rival militias pounded one another today in a seventh day of fighting for control of a neighbourhood north of the capital Mogadishu, and residents feared the battle could spread to other parts of Mogadishu and push the death toll beyond 150.

Hundreds of people began fleeing their homes in southern Mogadishu after secular militias warned that their battle with radical Islamic fighters could spread areas not yet hit by the current round of fighting, Jamiilo Isaq Roble said as she fled with her three children.