It was easy to stop (the fight) but it didn\u2019t happen. The situation got out of hand and spread like a wildfire: Farah Nur
\n MOGADISHU
\nA violent clash over the weekend between two clans in central Somalia has killed at least 55 people and injured another 155, residents and medical officials said on Monday.
\nSomalia\u2019s federal government is not only struggling to contain violence unleashed by the Al Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab group, but is also facing clan-based clashes over control of land and water in the Horn of Africa nation.
\nThe clash between the Dir and Marihan clans, who fought alongside each other in the paramilitary group which ousted Al-Shabab from Galmudug region, erupted on Saturday in Abudwaq and Herale towns over grazing land and watering points, said Farah Nur, a clan elder and resident of Herale.
\n\u201cGovernment forces came late. Unfortunately 55 people died, this includes both clans,\u201d he told Reuters.
\n\u201cIt was easy to stop (the fight) but it didn\u2019t happen. The situation got out of hand and spread like a wildfire.\u201d
\nPersonnel from hospitals in Herale, Abudwaq and two other adjacent towns confirmed to Reuters they had attended to 115 people who were wounded in the fighting. Those who died were buried immediately, residents said.
\n\u201cWe believe Al-Shabab is indirectly behind this strange war,\u201d said Ahmed Shire Falagle, a security adviser to the president of Galmudug state. \u201cThese are two brotherly clans that jointly used to defeat Al-Shabab.\u201d
\nThe fighting subsided following the arrival of federal government soldiers, residents said and Falagle said.
\n\u201cThere is (a) ceasefire but the mood is not good. A permanent ceasefire is needed,\u201d Sadia Hussein, a mother of four, told Reuters from Abudwaq.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It was easy to stop (the fight) but it didn\u2019t happen. The situation got out of hand and spread like a wildfire: Farah Nur MOGADISHU A violent clash over the weekend between two clans in central Somalia has killed at least 55 people and injured another 155, residents and medical officials said on Monday. Somalia\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412199,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-412178","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n