Families flee fighting in Middle Shabelle

Hundreds of families are fleeing their homes in the Middle Shabelle Region, south-central Somalia, local sources told IRIN on Wednesday. The exodus follows an outbreak of heavy fighting in the village of Raghe-Eil between opposing militias, the second incident of its kind since March.

"Many families have been fleeing their homes in the village [Raghe-Eil] and the surrounding areas since Thursday [29 May]," said a local journalist in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

The fighting, concentrated within a 20 km radius around the village of Raghe-Eil, 95 km northeast of Mogadishu, was between the two Abgal sub-clans of Muhammad Muse and Warsangeli, the source said. It reportedly started after forces loyal to the self-styled "governor" of Middle Shabelle, Muhammad Umar Habib a.k.a. Muhammad Dhere, a Warsangeli, captured the village, said the journalist.

Families were leaving Raghe-Eil and the surrounding villages which bore the brunt of the fighting, and were moving in response to reports of renewed fighting and a fear that "the fighting will resume again", Ahmadey Shaykh Hasan, a leader of the Muhammad Muse sub-clan, told IRIN on Wednesday.

According to the journalist, Raghe-Eil is still in the hands of the Muhammad Dhere militia. With the two militias reportedly receiving reinforcements and preparing to renew hostilities, "the area remains tense", he said.

Meanwhile, the American political officer for Somalia, Glenn Warren, said he deplored this new round of fighting. "We deplore this apparent violation of the ceasefire signed on 27 October in [the western Kenyan town of] Eldoret, which reportedly has resulted in at least 18 deaths," he told IRIN.

The Somali parties attending the peace talks, being mediated by IGAD, and since moved to the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, signed the cessation of hostilities agreement on 27 October last year. Under the terms of the agreement, the participating groups agreed to suspend all hostilities for the duration of the conference.

"News reports suggest that Muhammad Dhere instigated the fighting. He should immediately come to Nairobi and present himself to the ceasefire monitoring committee of the Somali reconciliation process in Mbagathi [a Nairobi suburb] to explain his version of events," Warren added.