Fighting between Islamist insurgents and African Union peacekeepers that started late on Thursday and continued into Friday, killing at least 12 people in Somalia's capital Mogadishu.Rebels from the al Shabaab group, which Washington says is al Qaeda's proxy in the failed Horn of Africa state, claim they attacked government bases and AMISOM peacekeeping troops before pulling back, and were then hit by shell fire themselves. At least 25 people were also wounded in the latest clashes, the head of Mogadishu's Medina hospital said. The total number of wounded civilians we received was fifty three. Most of them had gun shots wounds because of the ongoing fighting and artillery shelling, we are still waiting to receive more as fighting is going on, the hospital's chief doctor Duniyo Ali said.Violence in Somalia has killed 19,000 civilians since the start of 2007 and uprooted a further 1.5 million people, triggering one of the world's worst humanitarian emergencies. Western security agencies say the country has become a safe haven for Islamist militants, including foreign jihadis, who are using it to plot attacks across the region and beyond.
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