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Reports indicate heavy fighting, losses in Somalia

23 February 2011 22:40 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Reports in Somalia indicate that intense fighting between African Union peacekeepers and Islamist militants has resulted in heavy casualties, APA reports quoting â€œAssociated Pressâ€.
A spokesman for the African Union, Maj. Barigye Bahoku, said peacekeepers had killed 14 militants on Wednesday. He declined to comment on reports of heavy losses by the AU troops.
An al-Shabab spokesman, Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage, said that militants had killed five peacekeepers and captured one alive. He said the militants had paraded the bodies of the five men.
The captured peacekeeper is from Burundi, Rage said.
A Nairobi-based diplomat who quoted defense sources in Mogadishu said reports indicated that up to 10 African Union troops were killed and dozens were wounded in Wednesday’s fighting.