MOGADISHU, Somalia, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- At least 70 people were wounded during fighting between African Union peacekeepers and Islamic rebels in Mogadishu, sources said Thursday.
Al-Qaida's affiliates in Somalia, al-Shabaab, have declared war on AU peacekeepers in the capital of Somalia.
AU forces engaged anti-government forces south of the capital, leaving at least 20 people dead and another 70 injured, al-Jazeera reports, citing local sources.
The transitional government in Mogadishu controls only a tiny section of the nation's capital. The United Nations called on the government to stand united to bring the country out of decade's of turmoil. Political infighting, however, forced embattled Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmake to announce he was leaving office, however.
Somali President Sharif Ahmed last week called for changes in the transitional government, prompting lawmakers to consider holding a motion to vote on a no-confidence measure for Somali prime minister.
The prime minister said at the time that Somalia couldn't "withstand such a fallout," adding he had no intention of stepping down.
Somalia hasn't had a functioning government since the 1990s.
