Information Minister Farhan Ali Mohamoud told VOA the Cabinet feels an onslaught by insurgents in recent weeks has so weakened the government its very existence is at stake.

Witnesses say thousands of Somalis are fleeing intense fighting in northern Mogadishu, as clashes between Somali forces and Islamist insurgents spread throughout the capital city.

Speaker Sheik Aden Mohamed Nur said Saturday al-Qaida linked rebel groups are fighting to take over the country. The speaker appealed for urgent help from neighboring countries including Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Yemen.

Ethiopia helped prop up Somalia’s fragile transitional government for two years before withdrawing its troops in January. Ethiopia is believed to have already deployed hundreds of troops back into Somalia in recent weeks, a move Addis Ababa denies.

The Somali government is battling two Islamist militant groups, al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam. The groups are believed to have links to al-Qaida, which the Somali government says is sending foreigners to fight alongside the Islamist insurgents.

President Sharif Sheik Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, has introduced sharia (Islamic) law in Somalia, but hardline groups reject the U.N.-backed government as being pro-western.

Heavy fighting in Mogadishu between government forces and Islamist insurgents in recent weeks has killed more than 200 people and displaced nearly 120,000.

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