Clashes between Somali government forces and Islamist militants have killed at least 17 people and wounded about 60 in the capital Mogadishu. <br/><br/>The government controls only a few parts of the country. Backed by African Union troops, it is trying to quash al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda inspired group that controls much of southern Somalia. <br/><br/>A government official told newsmen that the Somali government forces advanced on the terrorists' strongholds. They took control of several neighbourhoods which had been held by the rebels. <br/><br/>The official, Colonel Ahmed Ibrahim that there are several bodies strewn across the streets. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes in two decades of conflict that has created one of the world's worst humanitarian emergencies. <br/><br/>Al-Shabab and other Islamist insurgents have imposed a strict form of Sharia, or Islamic law, in areas they control.<br/>