Somali government troops chased fighters loyal to the country’s newly powerful Islamists from a key southern town on Saturday, raising the spectre of a head-on clash between the Horn of Africa rivals. Bur Hakaba was a potential flashpoint town because it put the Islamists within 30 km (20 miles) of the government’s base in Baidoa. It lies on the road from the capital Mogadishu, which the Islamists seized from U.S.-backed warlords in June. “Heavy fighting took place early this morning between government troops and a local militia loyal to the Islamists,” said one local resident, Abdihakim Ahmed. Full Story