KABUL: (Middle East Press) At least 23 people have lost their lives in clashes between two tribes in central Somalia, local officials and witnesses say.
“Twenty three are so far confirmed dead but the toll could be higher,” AFP quoted a local elder as saying on Thursday.
Somali government officials have confirmed that conflicts over land ownership triggered the deadly violence between the Dir and Hawadle tribes around the villages of Burdhinle and Hada-Ogle, in central Hiiran region and close to the border with Ethiopia.
However, according to witnesses, fighting is still continuing between the armed groups.
Fighting between the Dir and Hawadle clans started late last year but was later halted by the intervention of the Somali national army and African Union peacekeepers from Djibouti.
