Mogadishu, 20 June-(ANA)-The speaker of Somalia's parliament has called for neighbouring states to send troops to the country within 24 hours.
Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur made the appeal as fierce fighting that has spread to the north of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, continued for a second day.
Islamist forces battling the country's transitional government briefly took over a police station and other key buildings in Karan district.
Thousands are fleeing the area, previously a refuge for the displaced.
"The government is weakened by the rebel forces," AFP news agency quoted Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur as saying.
"We ask neighbouring countries - including Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Yemen - to send troops to Somalia within 24 hours."
Somalia has been without an effective government since 1991. Its UN-backed, transitional government controls only parts of Mogadishu, and little of the rest of the country. (ANA)
Sudan/Ethiopia