Clan fighting claims 12 lives in Somalia

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- At least 12 people were killed and 15 others wounded following clan-based clashes in the Somali port town of Kismayo, some 500 km south of the capital Mogadishu.
According to eyewitnesses in Kismayo, the clashes erupted shortly after an attack on a public bus carrying members of one of the clans involved in the clashes.
During the attack, two men were killed and another injured.
Eleven others were killed in the ensuing clashes among the militias of the two clans, while the injured were mostly civilians.
   The chairman of Jubba Valley Alliance, Colonel Barre Adan Hirale told PANA Saturday the fighting between the clans of Marehan and Galje'el was caused by several cases of retaliation between them over the last two months.
He denied that the fighting had political undertones, and confirmed several houses were destroyed in the town during the clashes.
   Militias loyal to the Jubba Valley Alliance succeeded in stopping the fighting, while local elders from the two sides under the aegis of the Jubba Valley Alliance have been holding talks to ease the problem.
   Somali warring clans have continued fighting despite the cease- fire accord reached in Kenyan western town of Eldoret.