Somalia fighting kills scores of people

Mogadishu: Officials said insurgents are fighting their way toward Somalia's presidential palace on Sunday in fighting that killed dozens and wounded about 150.

African Union peacekeepers directly intervened for the first time to support government forces.

Witnesses said they saw several bodies and two AU tanks on the front line on Sunday.

Government forces used rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft guns mounted on the back of trucks, which they fired horizontally through the streets.

Duniya Ali Mohamed, an official at the city's main Medina hospital, said most of the wounded were women and children.