PARIS, March 19 (AFP) - The French humanitarian aid group Action Contre la Faim (ACF - Action Against Hunger) decided Friday to pull its staff out of Mogadishu where fierce fighting has broken out between rival militiamen.

ACF said in a communique that its workers were moving temporarily to the port of Merka, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) to the south of the capital.

At least 40 people were killed and 70 wounded early Friday in clashes in northern Mogadishu, while gunmen looted and torched their enemies' property, journalists and witnesses told AFP.

The fighting was mainly between Da'ud fighters of warlord Musa Sudi Yalahow and forces supporting Mogadishu governor Hussein Ali Ahmed.

Somalia has been without a government and ravaged by clan wars since the overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

mfo/glr/gd/ma AFP

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Received by NewsEdge Insight: 03/19/1999 10:53:29

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