Mogadishu - Fighting between rival clans in Somalia left at least 17 people dead on Saturday, most of them militiamen, with bodies littering the streets of one village, elders said.The clashes broke out on Saturday afternoon in Somalia's central Mudug region, where two sub-clans of the Hawiye tribe, armed with heavy machine guns, are locked in a violent dispute over land and water."Seventeen people - mainly combatants - died so far, 25 others were also injured," Moalim Abdulahi Afrah, an elder in the region, told reporters by telephone."The heaviest fighting occurred near Jildhere village and there are bodies still strewn in the streets and forests close to the village."dan Sheik Mohamoud, another local elder, said fighting resumed after efforts to mediate between the clans failed early on Saturday, and suggested the toll could be higher.
"The death toll is hitting close to 20, most of them the clan militias," he said. "Their argument is all about water and land for their livestock, the matter looks to have gotten out of hand now."Inter-clan fighting over land and water is common in the Horn of Africa nation, where most inhabitants are nomadic herders. Early this month, clashes between the two Hawiye sub-clans left 15 people dead. - Sapa-AFP
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