In Mogadishu, 11 Somali soldiers killed

At least 11 Somali soldiers have been killed in heavy clashes between al-Shabab fighters and transitional government troops in Mogadishu, Press TV reported. Captain Hassan Hirsi, a Somali military official, told Press TV that the soldiers died on Friday morning after al-Shabab fighters launched an attack on Somalia's transitional government forces in Mogadishu's northern district of Bondhere. An intense battle broke out in the aftermath of the attack with the two sides exchanging heavy gunfire and barrages of mortar shells. More than 30 Somali soldiers sustained injuries as a result. Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Strategically located in the Horn of Africa, the authority of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government is generally limited to the area around the capital city, Mogadishu.