New Delhi: As in-fighting continues in Somalia, the death toll has doubled overnight after a fierce fight between pro-government forces and hardline rebels.
Over 120 fighters have been killed as Somalia steps up the fight against militant rebels, say reports.
Militant rebel leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys is also feared dead.
But his militia denies reports. Fighting broke out on Friday June 5, 2009 in Wahbo village, near the Ethiopian border, when the Shebab and allied fighters tried to recapture the area from a pro-government group Ahlu Sunna wal Jamaa.
The Shebab-led offensive came a day after Jamaa's top religious leader officially declared his support for the embattled administration of President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
In the country, often called as the Horn of Africa, an Islamist insurgency broke out in early 2007. But the almost two decades long strife between militants and state has killed around 18,000 civilians and thousands more fighters.
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