20111029
Press TV
At least 33 civilians have been killed in a fierce exchange of fire between African Union forces and al-Shabab fighters in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, Press TVreported.

The victims lost their lives in bitter clashes that erupted between al-Shabab fighters and African Union (AU) soldiers in Mogadishu's northern neighborhood of Gupta as well as in Hodan, southern Mogadishu late on Thursday.

The bloody skirmishes continued for the entire Thursday night until the crack of dawn on Friday.

Over 76 people, mostly children, were also injured as the two sides exchanged heavy gunfire and barrages of mortar shells.

Somali ambulance workers transported the injured to nearby hospitals.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

Strategically located in the Horn of Africa, Somalia remains one of the countries generating the highest number of refugees and the internally displaced in the world.