By Abdi Sheikh and Abdi Guled
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Militiamen loyal to the government battled Islamist al Shabaab fighters in Somalia on Wednesday despite calls from around the world for a halt to the country's worst fighting for months.
Years of conflict have sucked in foreign militants, confounded 15 attempts to establish a central government, killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and created a security vacuum that has spawned piracy and other criminal activity.
Since the weekend, the capital Mogadishu has been rocked by mortar and machinegun fire as Islamist rebels try to topple President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's government. The violence has killed at least 113 civilians, and thousands have fled the city.
There have also been fierce clashes between Shabaab and a more moderate Islamist militia, Ahlu Sunna, in the country's central and southern regions. At least five people died on Tuesday in Mahas town, witnesses said.
"Al Shabaab fighters ran into a mosque for refuge, but residents kept firing at them with rocket-propelled grenades," local man Aden Hussein said by telephone.
Local elders later intervened, he added, and persuaded the Shabaab gunmen to lay down their arms. The 126 rebels were briefly held captive, then released, residents said.
An elder told Reuters that the insurgents had repeatedly been told to leave the town, which lies southwest of El Bur, a major Shabaab stronghold since 2006. "They turned a deaf ear ... but we are ready to fight if we are attacked," Mohamed Nur said.
Thousands of residents have fled parts of northern Mogadishu, the scene of some of the worst fighting in recent days. Wednesday, heavy clashes shook the same rain-swept streets again. Few details were immediately available.
The United Nations, African Union (AU), European Union and the United States have all condemned the violence and urged support for Ahmed's young government, formed in January.
CRIMINAL
AU Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra told reporters in Addis Ababa that more peacekeepers were expected to join the 4,300-strong AU force of Burundians and Ugandans there.
"We have received a pledge from Burundi for another battalion. With the pledge from Sierra Leone that brings the total to nearly 6,000. They will arrive as soon as possible."
The U.N. special envoy to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, said more attention was needed on combating criminal activities.
Criminal gangs, militia and a myriad armed players have made millions of dollars through kidnappings, extortion, illegal trading and piracy over the last 18 years of Somalia's anarchy.
"Time is long overdue to address the economic, financial and criminal activity related to the Somali crisis. We see only a political crisis," he told reporters in Ethiopia's capital.
"(The government) may be weak, and it is weak. But to perpetuate the idea that it is a civil conflict for political reasons is very easy. Piracy has been very helpful in drawing attention to the money side of this crisis."
The nation has been torn by conflict since 1991 when warlords ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each other. More than 16,000 civilians have been killed by fighting since the start of 2007, more than 1 million are internal refugees, and some 3.2 million survive on food aid.
