Factional Fighting Death Toll Nears 100

Rival factions battled for a third straight day in Mogadishu, the capital, and the death toll rose to nearly 100. In one battle zone, security sources said at least nine militia members were killed and 22 wounded in heavy clashes between two factions at Mogadishu’s airport, closed since last year. More than 80 people died and at least 175 were wounded over the weekend in fighting that has pitted the forces of Hussein Mohammed Aidid against three allied factions, raising fears of a final, all-out war for the capital. Aidid, a 34-year-old former U.S. Marine, succeeded his father, Mohammed Farah Aidid, after the latter’s death in August and was elected president of Somalia by his own supporters. But both he and his government are rejected by many other faction leaders.