Six reported killed in inter-clan fighting

At least six people were killed and an unknown number wounded in inter-clan fighting in the Middle Shabelle Region of south-central Somalia, sources in the regional capital, Jowhar, 90 km north of Mogadishu, have told IRIN. The fighting, concentrated within a 20 km radius around the village of Shamento, 10 km east of Jowhar, was between the two Abgal sub-clans of Muhammad Muse and Warsangeli, the sources said. It broke out on Monday and ended the same day, they added. The fighting reportedly started after the self-styled "governor" of Middle Shabelle, Muhammad Umar Habib, a Warsangeli, ordered the arrest of the Jowhar "district commissioner", Fu'ad Ahmad, a Muhammad Muse. The Muhammad Muse sub-clan took exception to this act and attacked Warsangeli positions, according to local sources. Some houses in Shamento village were reportedly burned down during the fighting, they said. Muhammad Habib, who is a member of the opposition Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council, accused the Transitional National Government (TNG) in Mogadishu of being behind the fighting, Somali media reported. A TNG senior official told IRIN on Tuesday that the accusation was "completely false, with no basis in reality". The Shamento area was now calm but tense, "with a real possibility of renewed fighting" occurring at any time, according to local sources. Abgal clan elders were engaged in mediation efforts to bring about a permanent cessation of hostilities, they added.