Militias and secular rivals fight outside Somali capital

Hundreds of Islamic militiamen today battled secular rivals and prevented them from recapturing a base they lost in the Somali capital, leaving at least three dead and seven others wounded.

The fighting outside Huruwaa, a district in northern Mogadishu, highlights the growing military supremacy of the fundamentalist Islamic militia who have steadily expanded their control of parts of Mogadishu since February.