At least 15 people were killed and over 40 injured in fighting between government forces and insurgents overnight in Mogadishu. According to local sources the most violent fighting took place in the southern Karan, Yaqshid and Derkenley districts of the capital, when the soldiers attempted to regain control of posts seized by the insurgents. Witnesses said that numerous civilians were killed in the clashes that erupted in the afternoon and lasted late into the night. In an address to the nation yesterday marking Somali Independence Day, President Sheikh Sherif Sheikh Ahmed reiterated that the government will continue fighting against "the obscure forces attempting to seize the nation" and threatening to make Somalia fall back into the darkest years of the conflict, which began after the fall of Siad Barre in 1991. Based on UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees), some 170,000 people have been forced from their homes since the start of the insurgent offensive in early May. Over 250 civilians have been killed in the crossfire. [BO]