Somali Islamists and troops defending the government’s only stronghold battled with rockets and heavy weapons on Wednesday at two frontline areas as a European Union envoy flew in to stave off the brewing war. The flare-ups to the southwest and southeast of the interim government’s surrounded outpost, Baidoa, heightened fears of a Horn of Africa conflict a day after the expiry of an Islamist deadline for government-allied Ethiopian troops to leave. Full Story