Somali gunmen clash in Ethiopia, 13 die - sources

Somali gunmen clash in Ethiopia, 13 die - sources
16 Feb 2006 17:08:29 GMTSource: Reuters
By Mohamed Ali Bile
MOGADISHU, Feb 16 (Reuters) - At least 13 people died when rival Somali groups fought gun battles in a remote Ethiopian village, kinsmen in nearby Somalia said on Thursday.
The kinsmen, speaking from two Somali towns where the dead and wounded were taken, said the fighting between the two sub-clans living in Ethiopia started on Wednesday over control of a dam in the drought-hit region and was still going on.
In the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, the information ministry confirmed a clash in the village of Yamarugleey about 40 km (25 miles) east of the Somali border, but had no information on casualties or the cause of the violence.
"The Federal Affairs Ministry and officials of the Somali regional government (in Ethiopia) have dispatched a joint mission to investigate the causes of the clash," a ministry spokesman told Reuters.
Many ethnic Somalis live in Ethiopia's eastern Ogaden region and have close family links across the border with Somalia.
Somalia, where similar clashes are frequent, has had no central government since former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted by clan militias 15 years ago.
Residents in the Somali towns of Abudwaaq and Galkaayo said the fighting involved the Marehan and Majerten sub-clans. They said that apart from the dead, 48 wounded had also been brought to the two towns.
They said fighting was heavy and the victims had been taken to Somalia for treatment because that was where their kinsmen were.
"There are 12 dead bodies and 20 injured people in the hospital in Abudwaaq," Abdinasir Haji, a resident of the Marehan-dominated town more than 700 km (450 miles) north of the capital Mogadishu, told Reuters by phone.
Ahmed Dirie, a hospital official in the Majerten town of Galkaayo, said one person died in the hospital from gunshot wounds and the death toll might rise.
"We understand fighting is still going on, it's very sad," he said by phone.
Ahmed Sugule, a Marehan traditional leader in Abudwaaq, said elders from both groups were in contact in a bid to end the fighting. (Additional reporting by Guled Mohamed in Nairobi and Tsegaye Tadesse in Addis Ababa)