HARGESIA, Somalia, March 29 (Reuters) - New fighting between Puntland security forces and villagers near the disputed border in rival enclave Somaliland has killed at least six people, a Somaliland minister said on Wednesday.

Mohamed Sheikh Mohamoud, Somaliland's minister of youth and sports, said five "attacking forces" from Puntland and one person from the local Warsangeli clan died on Tuesday.

"Puntland forces who attacked Majayahan border village for the third time within two weeks have exchanged mortar fire with the inhabitants of Majayahan village," he said. Firing was continuing on Wednesday but no new casualties were reported.

Somaliland, an enclave on the Gulf of Aden, declared independence from Somalia in 1991 and has since enjoyed relative peace. But it has fought sporadic clashes with Puntland over border areas claimed by Puntland's leaders as theirs on the basis of ethnicity.

The latest fighting pitted the Majeerten clan, which makes up most of Puntland's administration, against the Warsangeli clan to which the Somaliland minister belongs.

The Warsangeli live on both sides of the border in an area rich in zinc and other minerals.