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MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - Islamic militiamen battled rival forces who have been challenging their growing power Wednesday, killing at least 20 people in some of the heaviest recent fighting in the chaotic Somali capital.
More than 60 people, including a 3-month-old boy, were wounded as the two sides fought using rocket-propelled grenades, anti-aircraft guns and machine guns, according to witnesses and doctors at the Medina and Keysaney hospitals. Civilians were among the casualties.
Somalia has not had an effective central government since opposition leaders ousted longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. They then turned on each other, carving the nation into a patchwork of clan-based fiefdoms.
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