Islamic fighters 'suffer thousands of casualties'

Islamic fighters were in a tactical retreat today after suffering massive casualties as government and Ethiopian troops advanced for control of Somalia, Ethiopia’s prime minister said.

“I hear reports of close to 3,000 injured in Mogadishu’s hospitals … and well over 1,000 might have died. Some of them are Somalis, but a very significant proportion of them are not Somalis,” Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told reporters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. He cited internal military reports.