Somali: Fierce fighting in capital

MOGADISHU, Somalia, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Authorities say at least 20 people were killed and dozens more wounded in fierce street fighting in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Islamist insurgents this week battled government troops and their Ethiopian allies in the heaviest fighting in weeks, the BBC reported Saturday.

Some of the deadliest fighting has been near African Union peacekeeper bases on the road to Mogadishu's airport -- a key target for rebels, the BBC reported.

Somali has been under siege since Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted as president in 1991. It's estimated upward of 3 million people -- nearly half of the country's population -- are in need of food, said United Nations sources, noting as many as 1.1 million people have been uprooted from the capital city alone in the last nine months.