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MOGADISHU, March 6, 2010 – More than a dozen people
were killed and many more were hurt when two clans clashed in central
Somalia, residents and community elders said on Friday.
The Qubeys clan and the Suleyman sub-clan of the Habargidir clan started
fighting the previous day in Amara village, 90 km north of the pirate
base town of Haradheeere. The fight was over a dispute over land
ownership.
"So far we know that 14 people died in the hostilities between the clans
and more than two dozens were injured," Mohamud Ali an Amara resident
told Reuters by phone.
Abukar Dirshe an elder from the Qubeys clan said the fighting was
sparked by long-standing hostilities over land ownership.
"We failed to reach accord with our neighbour so this resulted in deaths
and still the area is too tense. There might be further clashes as war
preparations are underway in nearby villages," he said.
Separately, fighting went on in Hodan district of Mogadishu between
government soldiers and Islamist rebels, with the sound of gunfire being
heard in the area on Friday.
The Horn of Africa nation has had no effective central government for 19
years and the West's efforts to prop one up has been greatly undermined
by an insurgency led by the al Shabaab --viewed by Washington as al
Qaeda's proxy in the region-- and Hizbul Islam groups. (Reporting by
Ibrahim Mohamed; Editing by Matthew Jones)
Source: Reuters, Mar 5, 2010
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