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 MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - Somalia's government claimed victory over an Islamic insurgency Thursday just hours after a surge in violence killed 58 people in the capital, but diplomats said they were skeptical the worst fighting in more than 15 years had ended.
Somali troops and their Ethiopian allies have been trying to wipe out the insurgents since late March, with the unrelenting rain of mortar shells and artillery taking the highest toll on civilians. Rights groups say the fighting has killed more than 1,000 people and sent up to 400,000 fleeing for safety.
Machine gun and artillery fire could still be heard in the south of Mogadishu, a wrecked coastal city of 2 million people. Fifty-eight people, mainly civilians, were killed in fighting early Thursday as the Ethiopian and government forces drove insurgents out of their stronghold in the north of the city, according to Somalia's Elman Human Rights Organization.
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