At least sixteen people have been killed and more than 20 others wounded in the second day of fighting between fighters of hardline Islamist Al-Shabaab group and a rival Muslim sec in central Somalia, Islamist officials and residents said Sunday.
The latest clashes between the local Ahlu Sunna fighters and those of the radical Al-Shabaab broke out in Dhusamareb, the provincial capital of Galagadud region, and in Galinsor in central Somalia.
In Galinsor town in Galgadud province, residents said that clashes erupted between the two rival groups.
"Eight people died in Galinsor since the fighting began today (Sunday) and people are leaving the town," Haji Nur Ahmed, a local elder said.
Witnesses and health officials in central Somalia said that nearly fourteen people have been wounded, most of whom civilians in the latest clashes in Dhusamareb and Galinsor in Galgadud.
The two sides have claimed to have the upper hand over the other in the clashes that began Saturday in Gureil town in Galgadud Province and spread to new areas in central Somalia.
"Our fighters have taken key strategic sites in the town including the central Prison after we have inflicted heavy losses on the Al-shabaab thugs" Abdulkadir Mohamed Ali "Al Ashari", spokesman for Ahlu Sunna told Xinhua by phone from Dhusamareb, 400Km north of Mogadishu.
"Al Ashari" said that two of his group's fighters were killed and four others were wounded in the latest confrontation between the two sides.
Shiek Ali Mohamed "Sheik Ali Dhere", Alshabaab head for the Central Somalia Region, said that his group was attacked in Dhusamareb by what he termed as "coalition of Ethiopian collaborators disguising as Ahlu Sunna".
"We know that Ethiopia is arming those collaborators after they could not stand up to us but we will also defeat the coalition of Ethiopian collaborators disguising as Ahlu Sunna," "Sheik Ali Dhere" told Xinhua by phone from central Somalia.
The Al-shabaab official said that there were casualties on his group's side without elaborating but independent sources in the area said that nearly two of the Al-shabaab fighters were killed while two others were wounded.
The clashes between the two rival Islamist group started early this month after the Ahlu Sunna, a moderate Islamist sec, accused the hardline Al-Shabaab movement listed by the United States as a terrorist organization, of harassing their members and desecrating the tombs of revered saints.
Reports from central Somalia said hundreds of families fled their homes to the surrounding woods for fear of the continuing clashes as many already displaced people from as far as the Somali capital have previously sought haven in central Somalia and have now being displaced once more.
Source:Xinhua
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