Nairobi/Mogadishu, June 04, SPA --The number of people who have fled fierce fighting in the Somali capital Mogadishu over the last fourweeks has risen to almost 100,000, dpa quoted the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR as saying today. More than 200 people have died and many more have been injuredduring weeks of heavy clashes between Islamist insurgents andgovernment forces in residential neighbourhoods. More residents took advantage of a lull in the fighting Thursdayto flee, adding to the 91,000 people that UNHCR said had alreadyabandoned the city. There are fears the conflict will only worsen as the insurgentsstruggle to oust Sheikh Sharif, who came to power earlier this yearas part of a UN-backed peace process. The insurgents say Sheikh Sharif is too close to the West andrefuse to stop fighting until an African Union peacekeeping force of4,300 soldiers from Burundi and Uganda leave. The government controls only sections of Mogadishu, while theinsurgents hold sway across much of southern and central Somalia. Ethiopia, whose invasion in late 2006 to kick out an Islamistregime sparked the insurgency, on Thursday admitted that it had senttroops back over the border after pulling out in January. As the insurgents gained ground in mid-May, reports emerged thatEthiopian troops were back on the ground. Information Minister Bereket Simon confirmed that soldiers hadentered Somalia, but said they were only on "reconnaissancemissions." The insurgency has claimed the lives of over 17,000 people, mainlycivilians, since early 2007 and coupled with a prolonged drought hasleft over 3 million Somalis dependent on food aid. Somalia has been embroiled in chaos since the 1991 ouster ofdictator Mohamed Siad Barre and is widely regarded as a failed state.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/671302