Mogadishu battle spreads, 30 more said killed

MOGADISHU, May 25 (Reuters) Fresh clashes between rival Somali militias spread across Mogadishu tosday, killing up to 30 more people in the anarchic Horn of Africa nation's worst violence for years, witnesses said.

Firing mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft guns, militia linked to Islamic courts squared off from early morning with fighters for a self-styled anti-terrorism coalition of warlords, which many believe to be funded by Washington.

Bullets were flying in various parts of the battered capital, sending scores fleeing, witnesses told Reuters.

''There are so many people dead, I saw nearly 30 dead and over 40 wounded,'' resident Abdifatah Abdikadir told Reuters by telephone from southern Mogadishu.

''People are being carried on wheelbarrows to the hospital with broken limbs and gunshot wounds. It's going from bad to worse.'' The battle for control of Mogadishu has been ongoing since the start of the year. So far at least 270 people have been killed.

The latest and fiercest bout of fighting in recent weeks had been mainly in the city's north. But by today, it was spreading to various districts in the south, residents said.

''We brought my child to the Hanana medical clinic this morning, two minutes later the horrible shootings began, and our lives were in danger,'' said Halima Jama, a mother-of-three.

''MOGADISHU IS BLAZING'' Both sides confirmed the fighting.

''It's the coalition who attacked us, we have been ambushed from several fronts, it's really heavy,'' said Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, Mogadishu Islamic Courts chairman.

''We are defending our positions from their attacks. They received seven trucks full of ammunition yesterday and that's why they are attacking us.'' More Reuters PR VV1546