MOGADISHU, Somalia, July 6 (UPI) -- Government forces battled Islamic insurgents, killing 16 people in Mogadishu, as Somalia's president asked for more military help.
Most of the victims in Monday's fighting were insurgents killed in attacks on the shrinking territory controlled by the weak Somali government, Radio France Internationale reported Tuesday.
Because of the deteriorating situation, Somali President Sharif Sheik Ahmed asked east African heads of state Monday to bolster the number of African Union troops in the country during a meeting of the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development, RFI said. Uganda, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and Sudan pledged to send 2,000 troops to Somalia, which would raise the number of AU troops in the country to 8,100.
The Islamist al-Shabaab movement, which controls most of the country, has been targeting government troops so they can attack forces of the African Union mission in Somalia and disrupt their supplies, RFI said.
