Somalian clan battles kill 12
2005-03-07 08:51
Mogadishu - At least 12 people were killed and 35 others wounded in an outbreak of interclan fighting in central Somalia at the weekend, residents said on Sunday.
The clashes began on Saturday and were continuing on Sunday, although at a much lower level, in the Hobyo district of Mudug region, they said.
The involved two groups, known as the Saad and the Suleymnan, within the large Hawiye clan, who have been at odds since December, they said.
"At least 12 people were killed and 35 others wounded. The fighting took place on Saturday and continued on Sunday, but at a very low level," said a resident who was contacted by radio told from a village in the area.
The resident, who did not want to be named, explained that the warring sides were regrouping in preparation for fresh hostilities.
Interclan fighting has flared regularly in the shattered African nation since the ouster of dictator Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991, an event which split the vast desert country of some 10 million people into a patchwork of fiefdoms governed by unruly warlords.
A government appointed early this month is still based in the Kenyan capital Nairobi because of widespread insecurity in the Somali capital Mogadishu.