Somali famine: Fighting in Mogadishu amid aid delivery

At least four people are reported to have been killed as government forces, backed by African Union troops, attacked Islamist insurgents.

The BBC's Mohammed Dhore in Mogadishu says the clashes are in northern areas and unlikely to affect the aid effort.

Thousands have arrived into government-controlled suburbs in search of food.

Correspondents say if the pro-government forces manage to gain more ground this could enable aid agencies to increase the areas where they can deliver food aid to victims of the severe drought.

The WFP delivery is the first airlift of food aid since the UN declared a famine in two southern areas of Somalia last week.

Al-Shabab, the al-Qaeda linked group which controls much of Somalia, has banned the WFP from its areas.

Our correspondent says the fighting started just after dawn when the government and African peacekeeping troops launched an offensive on an al-Shabab stronghold in the north of the city, about 7km (four miles) from the airport.

Government officers told the BBC they had gained some ground and were now trying to dislodge al-Shabab from Mogadishu stadium.

Our reporter says it appears to be an attempt to push back the insurgents just ahead of the holy month of Ramadan which starts over the weekend - a time when al-Shabab has often launched attacks including suicide bombings.

Lt Col Paddy Ankunda, a spokesman for the 9,000-strong AU force in Mogadishu, said 41 al-Shabab fighters had surrendered during clashes.

The weak interim government controls only parts of Mogadishu, including the airport, the port and parts of the south of the city around the presidential palace.

Tens of thousands of Somalis have fled areas controlled by al-Shabab to Mogadishu and neighbouring Kenya and Ethiopia in search of assistance.

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