08 Sep 2009
Over 250,000 people have fled violence in Mogadishu since May, bringing the total number of displaced within Somalia to over 1.5 million, the UN says.

The two main opposition groups, the al-Shabab and Hezb al-Islam, have been fighting with government forces to topple the US-backed interim President, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who came to power earlier this year.

On Monday alone, heavy clashes between the rebels and government forces left at least 15 people dead and many more injured.

The Somali government had earlier said it's in direct talks with local fighters to try to end months of deadly violence.

Al-Shabab fighters are still in control of some southern cities and parts of the capital, Mogadishu.

The renewed fighting -- kicked off early in the year -- is part of a bloody insurgency that engulfed the conflict-torn country following the 2007 Ethiopian invasion of Somalia.

The clashes between government forces and local fighters in residential areas of the capital Mogadishu, has claimed the lives of over 18,000 people.

According to the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR, the fighting has left over 1.5 million people displaced -- the majority of them women and children.

Further more, over half of the Somali population is now dependent on food aid due to the conflict and drought.

Somalia has been embroiled in chaos, lacking a functioning government, since warlords overthrew Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

presstv