Rival militias battled using rocket-propelled grenades, mortars, artillery and assault rifles for control of a part of the Somali capital for a third straight day on Tuesday, killing at least nine people and wounding 27 others overnight.The clashes between radical Islamic militiamen and secular rivals marked an escalation among combatants who usually do not fight after dusk, and raised casualty figures to at least 37 dead and more than 88 wounded since the latest round of fighting began on Sunday.
A mortar shell landed on a home containing seven members of a family, killing six people outright, witness Sheik Abdulahi Ali Guled said.
Another mortar round killed an Islamic cleric and two other people, said Tahliil Olad, who witnessed the incident.
At least 12 people were taken to the Medina hospital overnight for treatment of wounds they suffered during the fighting, said Dr Abdi Ibrahim Jiya, who works at the hospital.
Another 15 people, mostly civilians, were taken to Kaysenay hospital for treatment overnight, said Dr Ali Dile.
Somalia has had no effective central government since 1991, when warlords ousted long-time dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each other -- carving this nation of an estimated eight million people into a patchwork of anarchic, clan-based fiefdoms.
A United Nations-backed transitional government has based itself in the central city of Baidoa, but has so far failed to assert itself elsewhere in the country.
Islamic fighters are seeking to boost the power of a group of radical clerics that is trying to assert itself as an alternative military and political force in the lawless country.
Seeking to curb their growing power, a group of businessmen and warlords-turned-politicians formed an armed alliance in March, and the two groups have battled for control of parts of the capital.
Witnesses said the latest fighting began when gunmen working for a militia commander linked to the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counterterrorism opened fire on a gun truck carrying the bodyguards of Islamic Court Union chairperson Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed.
Members of the alliance, however, said they were only defending themselves from an attack by radical Islamic militiamen.
The alliance and the Islamic union have been squaring off for several weeks in anticipation of a battle for control of Mogadishu. The alliance accuses the Islamic courts of sheltering foreign al-Qaeda leaders, while the courts accuse the alliance of being a pawn of the United States.
Ahmed vowed in an interview with the Horn Afrik radio that Islamic militias will continue fighting until they get the upper hand over their rivals.
Since March at least 120 people have been killed and 70 more wounded in similar clashes between the alliance and the Islamic courts. Traditional elders and local chiefs have tried to organise peaceful negotiations but have repeatedly failed.
"Whenever fighting breaks out between two rival militias, we used to sort it out through traditional means or on tribally based talks," but it is becoming more difficult to mediate between the two sides, said Garad Yussuf Dibad, a respected traditional leader.
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, president of the transitional government, said earlier this week that he was concerned about what he believed was US support for the alliance. But US officials have refused to confirm or deny their involvement with the alliance.