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 MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - Somalia is in "a state of war," the country's Islamic leader said Thursday, as bodies lay in the streets of strategic villages where U.N.-backed government troops fought advancing Islamic forces.
The clashes threaten to spiral into a major conflict in this volatile region, sucking in Ethiopia and its bitter rival Eritrea, which is accused of supporting the Islamic group. Analysts believe Ethiopia may soon raise the stakes by deploying attack helicopters in support of the government.
An Associated Press photographer saw 19 bodies of Islamic fighters in Moode Moode, a town nine miles from the government garrison town of Baidoa, where fighting had taken place Wednesday.
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