20 slain in Puntland inter-clan fighting

Sunday, November 21, 2010

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At least twenty people have been killed and many more were injured when two rival clans turned on each other and clashed in Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland.

The fighting broke out on Saturday in Galkacyo town, the capital of the Mudug region, which is located about 700 km (435 miles) northwest of the Somali capital, the Press TV correspondent in Mogadishu reported.

The fighting between the Sacad sub-clan of the Habargidir clan and members of the Majerteen clan was sparked by long-standing hostilities over land ownership.

Some of the injured have been taken to hospitals in Galkacyo.

Tension is still high in the area, with both clans reportedly amassing fighters for another battle as residents vacate the region.

In a recent report, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) stated that hundreds of civilians have been injured in fighting in Somalia in recent months.

The Geneva-based humanitarian institution said that a total of 5,000 patients with war injuries, including 1,900 women and children, were admitted to Mogadishu's Keysaney and Medina hospitals from January through September.

Compared to last year, it is an increase of 25 percent in the total number of war casualties and 72 percent in the number of war-wounded women and children admitted to the hospitals.

Some 4,000 patients with war injuries, among them 1,100 women and children, were taken to Mogadishu's two referral hospitals in 2009.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

Over the past two decades, up to one million people have lost their lives in fighting between rival factions and due to famine and disease.

There are more than 1.4 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Somalia. Over 300,000 of the IDPs are sheltered in Mogadishu.

Most of the displaced live in poor and degrading conditions on makeshift sites in southern and central Somalia, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Source: PressTV

Hiiraan Online