Seven killed in Somalia clan fighting

Mugadishu, Sunday, July 01, 2007 Simba Radio

At least seven Somalis were killed Saturday in incidents between rival clans feuding over access to wells in the crisis-stricken Horn of Africa country, witnesses and local elders told AFP.

The fighting broke out in Omad, near the southwestern Somalia town of Beledwein , the sources said.

‘We have seven people dead and nine others wounded so far, they were killed in the clashes that broke out in Omad village this morning,' local elder Ugas Roble Mohamed told AFP by telephone.

The clashes erupted as a delegation of elders was in the village to negotiate an agreement between two sub clans from the same Hawadle clan, he said.

‘The argument between the two sub clans is over shallow wells. One man was initially killed and then negotiation continued but this fighting that left seven people dead is really frustrating, I believe the negotiations will face obstacles,' Adan Osman, another elder in Beledwein, told AFP.

Residents in Beledwein, which lies north of Mogadishu , near the border with Ethiopia , said several of the wounded had been brought to the town.

Somalia has been without a functioning central authority since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre touched off a bloody power struggle that has defied numerous attempts to restore stability.

Insecurity has hampered relief efforts in Somalia , where malnutrition rates are soaring.