96,000 flee Mogadishu fighting

The United Nations said today that 96,000 Somalis had fled fighting in Mogadishu in the last month, while in central Somalia rival Islamist groups fought for a town in battles that killed dozens.Rebels from the militant al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam groups first wrested control of Wabho town from pro-government moderate Islamists Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca in a day of mortar and machine-gun exchanges that sent residents fleeing, witnesses said."We have pounded mortars on the infidels and entered the town from all sides. Wabho is now under our control," Hisbul Islam spokesman Sheikh Muse Arale said.Fighters spoke of dozens of dead, but it was impossible to verify exact numbers. Central towns have been changing hands regularly between militants and moderates in on-off fighting throughout the year.Late in the day, Ahla Sunna claimed it had re-taken Wabho, and wounded hardline Islamist leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys. Leaders on both sides spoke to Reuters by satellite phone, but other lines to the town were cut, so there was no independent verification...MORE..http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0605/breaking60.htm