Pro-government troops patrol the streets in southern Mogadishu, as violence intensifies in Somalia.

Somalia's most powerful militant group, al-Shabaab, has reportedly executed two alleged CIA agents in the country's restive capital, Mogadishu.

The group, which has publicly announced its loyalty to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, issued the execution order after finding the two men guilty of spying for the United States.

According to witnesses, however, the two men were shot dead early on Monday in al-Shabaab's Maslah camp in northern Mogadishu.

The development comes as government troops recaptured the strategic central town of Beledweyne, some 332 kilometers (206 miles) north of the capital.

Heavy Fighting erupted early on Monday after Somali soldiers carried out a pre-dawn attack on the town's western wing, forcing rebels loyal to another influential militant group called Hizbul Islam to evacuate their bases.

The number of casualties remain unclear, with some sources saying as many as 15 people, most of them militants, were killed in the attack.

Meanwhile, the beleaguered capital was the scene of more fighting, where at least 10 people were killed and 18 others injured, following fierce clashes between African Union troops and rebel forces.

Several artillery shells fired from both sides also slammed into residential areas, claiming an unknown number of civilian lives.

Rebel groups are fighting to overthrow a fragile western-backed transitional government in the Horn of Africa nation.

Violence has intensified in Somalia since an inland US operation angered the rebels, who have ever since vowed to retaliate with more attacks.

The US claims that the air strike had killed an alleged operative working for al-Qaeda.

Somalia has been marred by two decades of civil strife following the ouster of former dictator Mohammad Siad Bare in 1991.

presstv