Heavy fighting broke out between Somali government forces and Islamist insurgents in Mogadishu early Wednesday, officials and witnesses said.The government side, which has been planning a large offensive against its foes, said the radical Shebab fighters attacked their position in the north of the capital at dawn, sparking the fierce gunbattles.No casualties were reported in the clashes, which witnesses reported involved the use of heavy machine-guns, anti-aircraft weapons and artillery fire."The Shebab militants attacked our forces at the northern frontline of Abdulaziz this morning with heavy artillery and machine guns," Somali government security official Abdi Mohamed told AFP."The fighting is still going on and we have no information about the casualty so far," he added."The fighting started sporadically with artillery early morning but later intensified with both sides reinforcing their positions," said Maryan Ali, a resident in north Mogadishu."It is very heavy fighting and I have seen many Shebab fighters taking positions. There are very few families left around Abdulaziz neighborhood now and it looks they will start fleeing once they get chance to leave..."Belligerent factions in Mogadishu have been locked in a tense stand-off for weeks, amid expectations of an imminent offensive by the government and its African Union backers to wrest the country back from the insurgency.
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