Mogadishu, March 11 (IANS) At least 30 people were killed and 83 injured Thursday as fierce fighting continued between government forces backed by African Union peacekeeping troops and Islamist insurgents in the Somalian capital.

The fighting, which erupted Wednesday, resumed Thursday after a brief lull overnight with both sides claiming control over Mogadishu.

'As many as 30 people were killed with 12 of them in one area in the north of Mogadishu,' Ali Muse, head of local ambulance service, said.

'We have picked almost 83 wounded people including 35 children mainly in the northern districts of Mogadishu,' Xinhua quoted the official as saying.

The latest upsurge came after speculation intensified of a major government offensive to regain the capital from rebels.

The Somali government controls only parts of Mogadishu while Islamist groups rein over large swathes of territory in the south and center of war-ravaged East African nation.