32 killed in Somalia; al-Shabab gains ally

BOSASO, Somalia, July 29 (UPI) -- At least 13 combatants were killed in an intense insurgent-government battle in the normally stable Puntland region of northern Somalia, authorities said.The fighting in the rugged mountains of the semiautonomous region, where a third of Somalia's population lives, coincided with clashes between Islamic insurgents and Somali government troops that killed at least 19 civilians in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, health officials said.Another 46 were wounded in the clashes, Radio France Internationale quoted Ali Musa, head of Mogadishu ambulance services, as saying.Both clashes came as the intergovernmental African Union said it would send 4,000 troops to fight the Harakat al-Shabab al-Mujahedin movement, one of Africa's most fearsome militant Islamic groups, which controls most of Somalia, the radio network said.

Al-Shabab declared its alliance with al-Qaida Feb. 1.

The Puntland fighting came a day before insurgent warlord Sheik Mohamed Said Atom said he would align his people with al-Shabab forces and fight the Puntland government until it agreed to impose strict Islamic law."Shabab are our brothers," Atom said in a message broadcast by Somali radio stations and appearing on Web sites Wednesday"We are members of the Shabab, and the Shabab are members of us," his message cited by The New York Times said. "We have good contacts. We are united in our objectives."Puntland President Abdirahman Mohamed Farole accused al-Shabab of trying to seize the mountains in Puntland and areas bordering the Gulf of Aden so militants can ship more foreign fighters into Somalia, CNN reported.Al-Shabab, which has carried out public executions and amputations in areas it controls, seeks to topple the internationally recognized Somali transitional government.